


Fourberie

by JediMazzie



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/F, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-05-05 18:08:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5385464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediMazzie/pseuds/JediMazzie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gail Peck, a newly transferred Detective at 15th Division, partners up with Traci Nash in Homicides and face the challenge of solving a huge case while hiding a terrifying secret of her own from people around her.  A murder mystery story with a touch of supernatural and dash of romance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mezcal

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second Golly story and very different from Rigor Samsa. This story will include a lot of murder mysteries, so be forewarned of potential violent elements. I will include any trigger warnings in each chapter.
> 
>  
> 
> TW: Violence in the beginning of this chapter.

_A smoky fog rolls out of Gail’s mouth and her body shivers from the freezing air blowing against her bare legs.  The stilettos crush the grey snowy mush on the sidewalk as she walks toward the unknown destination.  Her left hand reaches up to pulls the strap in comfortable position on her shoulder.   She walks by a streetlight and her heartbeat increases as she leaves the safety of the light.  Her eyes scan around and spot no sign of life anywhere on the street.  She can feel herself taking a deep breath and increasing her pace._

_“Two blocks to go.  You’ll be home in no time.  You can do this, Julie,” Gail hears herself whispering._

_She walks by a dark and narrow alley between a closed convenience store and apartment complex.  A breath of relief goes out of her mouth as she sees the entrance door for the apartment building.  A gloved hand covers her mouth and an arm wraps around her chest.  She gets pulled back in the dreary alley and tossed aside by a filthy dumpster.  Her legs begins to kick aimlessly and the intruder grabs her legs without much effort._

_A rough voice snarls, “Stop it! Gimme your purse!”_

_Gail’s right hand climbs inside the purse to grab something and pulls it out.  It turns out to be a pepper spray.  However, the stranger sees it too._

_“Oh no, you better not! I’m going to fuck you up!”_

_Gail feels an extremely sharp pain in her stomach.  She looks down to see her white body con dress and notices a fierce red waterfall coming out of her navel and flowing down to the ground.  Her head turns dizzy and her life energy begins to fade away.  She looks up at the stranger and Gail memorizes his appearance._

_Dark brown hair.  Fat mustache.  Prominent nose.  Cold brown eyes.  Pale skin with signs of drug abuse.  Thick fake leather jacket with a few tears.  Dirty jeans.  Worn tan construction boots._

_“Stupid bitch.  If you would just cooperate, I wouldn’t have to kill you.”_

_He digs in the purse and pulls out a wallet.  He peeks inside and grabs out couple bills.  He counts and becomes upset when he realizes he only gets couple dollars and a ten dollar bill.  He throws the purse at Gail and begins to scream at her._

_“Only twelve dollars? I had to kill you for what?! Fuck!”_

_He begins to kick Gail’s waist several times before walking away in the darkness._

_Gail’s vision slowly fades away and she can feel tears coming out of her eyes._

  


Gail bolts up from a lying position on her bed.  She takes several deep and quick breathes as she looks around.  She is in her bedroom.  Not in the alley.  The glacial death’s grasp recedes from all over her body.  Her hand presses against her stomach where she could still feel the piercing pain of being stabbed.

 

Gail drags her legs over the edge of her bed and she covers her face with her hands.  She sighs to herself.  This still happens to her every time and she has been doing this for years.  It doesn’t matter how often she experiences those dreams, it still gets to her every single time.  

 

Dark brown hair.  Fat mustache.  Prominent nose.  Cold brown eyes.  Pale skin with signs of drug abuse.  Thick fake leather jacket with few tears.  Dirty jeans.  Worn tan construction boots

 

Gail looks over at her tablet lying on the nightstand by her bed and picks it up.  She opens an encrypted journal and begins to record her death dream precisely.  A tremor of chill crawls up her back as she recalls the terrifying feelings the victim experienced while being murdered.  And for what? Just twelve bucks?  She shakes her head in disgust.  

 

After she completes the latest journal entry, she puts the tablet back on the nightstand and unplugs her cellphone from the charger.  She dials a very familiar number from memory.

 

“Gail,” a professional toned voice speaks.

 

“Mother, it’s done.  It’s him just as we suspected.  All the information is recorded and ready for your review.”

 

“Good work, Gail.  Now, that means you are officially released from the 27th Division and assigned to the 15th Division tomorrow.  Remember whom you represent. Work hard. Don’t screw up.  Get some rest and we will talk more tomorrow,” Elaine Peck explicitly orders.

 

“Yes, Mother.”

 

Gail’s last words fail to get through the phone because Elaine disconnects the call without waiting for her response.  Gail grimaces in frustration and tosses her cellphone across the nightstand.  She falls back on the bed and stares at the ceiling above.  

 

Gail knows it is impossible to even attempt going back to sleep.  Too much adrenaline flowing through her veins.  Alcohol.  That’s exactly what she needs right now.  She gets off the bed, picks up some jeans lying on the floor, and put them on.  She grabs a random Pearl Jam t-shirt from the dresser and drags it over her chest.  She knows very well she always look badass in alternative band t-shirts and jeans with combat boots.  

 

Gail steps in the bathroom and stands by the sink with the mirror facing her.  She stares at herself in the mirror.  Her eyes scan along her mirrored face.  Heavy bags hanging from her eyes.  Full of burden dragging her eyes down.  She absolutely hates being a Feyian.  Her mother always tells her how fortunate she is for being born into the Pecks, the noble family within the Riordan clan, full of honor.  She scoffs to herself.  More like full of curses.  

 

 Tonight, she will have her fun.  She knows it’s going to be her last chance of letting loose before starting her new assignment tomorrow.  Tonight, she will be just Gail, a 28 year old single and sexy woman, looking for some fun.  She twists the hot and cold handles and the water starts running out of the faucet.  She splashes her face with the water and shakes the self-deprecation off.  

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Tequila. Double.”  

 

Alex, the owner of the bar, hence the name, turns around and nods at Gail.  Then pours a tall shot glass full of the golden liquid.

 

“Here you go.  Open tab?”

 

Gail quickly swallows the tequila and shudders a little from the burn spreading down her throat. She taps on the counter for another shot.

 

“Rough night?”

 

Gail wordlessly scowls and inhales the second shot. She takes a peek at her surroundings.  The bar is not in the best shape, but it is full of people of all kinds.  Alex’s is not the most famous queer bar, but it is Gail’s favorite.  The fact that she already know Alex from their high school days may have a little to do with her preference.  The best thing about Alex’s is that everyone is welcome regardless of their background as long as there’s respect being given.  Not only that, there is a huge space upstairs that is reserved for customers who need place to sleep and Alex takes 15% from the tip jar for the costs of providing safe space for those who need it.

 

“Couldn’t sleep, so I figured I might as well get myself some help from Jose,” Gail quips.

 

Alex smirks, “Cuervo? He’s not bad, but I got something even better stored just for you.”

Gail raises her eyebrows, “Oh yeah?”

 

Alex chuckles and bends down to grab a bottle from the bottom cabinet full of various liquor bottles.  Then performs a short salsa dance before putting down the bottle in front of Gail.   “Here you go, a bottle of mezcal with a yummy worm inside.”

 

Gail makes a disgusted face, “Worm? Isn’t that the stuff you eat to cause yourself to hallucinate?”

 

A short fit of laughter vibrates into Gail’s ear from her left, so she looks over at this olive-skinned woman with wavy dark brunette hair.  Her warm chocolate eyes connect with Gail’s piercing blue eyes.  Her lopsided smile unnerves Gail, so she attempts to unnerve her back by staying silent and staring.  

 

“The worm has no psychedelic properties.  It won’t do anything except maybe gross you out with its taste.  The myth was mostly a marketing scheme in 1940’s to attract more purchasing of American brands.  People often mistake those for tequila, when mezcal is really a variation of alcohol made from the blue agave plants among other type of plants.   People also confuse the term mezcal with mescaline, a powerful drug with strong psychedelic properties…”

 

Gail interrupts, “Why are you saying so many words?”

 

The dark haired woman opens her mouth but cannot come up with a witty remark, so she simply laughs.

 

Alex motions to the bottle in hand, “Still up for it? You gals can split the worm like the dog couple in Lady and The Tramp.”

 

Gail has this mortified face, while the brunette laughs out loud.

 

“Pretty sure I need to have several more shots in me before I would give that a consideration.”

 

Gail nods in agreement,  “Well, how about it? Pour us double.”

 

LINE BREAK

 

“Oh God, I can’t believe you just convinced me to do this with you!”

 

Gail has this smug expression on her face as Alex pours the worm out of the bottle into a shot glass.  They have been taking shots together and chatting about frivolous topics for several hours.  During the time Gail has been feeling almost normal and the stresses of being a Peck remain hidden in the back of her mind.  

 

Gail shrugs, “Well, I am pretty sure we are buzzed enough to be this dumb, and you’re pretty hot so I don’t mind.”

 

The brunette laughs and presses her glasses higher up her nose, “Okay. Just to warn you… if this tastes even a little bit disgusting like I suspect it will, I’m spitting it out immediately.  I cannot be held responsible for any potential consequences coming out of my action!”

 

Gail nods, “Noted,” and carefully picks up the worm from the shot glass. The worm slips out of Gail’s fingers, causing the glasses wearing woman to lean her head on Gail’s shoulder full of laughter.

 

“Shit, the worm is too slippery.  Let me try again.”

 

Gail picks up the worm again and places an end between her front teeth.  Her partner in question remains standing and trying to contain her laughter miserably.  Gail impulsively decides to grab her arm and pull her closer.  Their noses bumps briefly and Gail could smell her flowery perfume mixed with the breath of mezcal.  She feels lips brushing hers and teeth bumping her, taking a half of the worm.  However, the lips remains sticking to Gail’s, so she presses back.  A rush of warmth spreading from Gail’s lips and her brain becomes foggy with desire.  Just as Gail is about to open her mouth, forgetting about the deceased worm in her mouth, the brunette moves back abruptly and spits her wormy part onto a napkin in her hand.

 

“God, that was gross!”

 

It takes Gail a moment to realizes the situation and shakes herself out of her foggy state.   Her slimy half of the worm spread the awful taste all over her tongue, so she spits it out on a napkin too.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Gail and her newly attractive… friend(?) stare at each other for a minute before cracking up.  A group of people in their early twenties barge in the bar and sluggishly approach the counter.  Gail gets pulled by the brunette away from the counter.  

 

Her sweet voice whispers in Gail’s ear, “Let’s move to somewhere away from the crowd.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

For the first time in a long time, Gail is having the time of her life.  She’s leisurely sitting on a comfy red love seat in a dark corner away from other people in the bar.  Her gorgeous companion for the night is fighting the crowd to grab some beers for them.  Gail realizes she never bothered to get the stranger’s name, but she wonders if she really wants to in first place.  She likes the feeling of being purely herself without giving out details of her life outside this place.  Having no expectations or judgment is feeling really good right now.  Perhaps she can enjoy the night and leave it up to fate or whatever is in control to decide if they will meet again.  

 

“Here.”

 

Gail snaps out of her self-reflection and looks up at the olive-skinned beauty as she takes her seat next to Gail.  She takes the beer bottle out of her hand and takes a sip.  

 

“Ahh, I needed that to wash the awful taste out of my mouth.”

 

“Sorry it took me awhile.  There’s way too many people at the counter.  I feel bad for Alex taking care of the orders alone.”

 

Gail makes a face, “Ugh, I hate people.”

 

“Me too. Although I’ve been trying to do something different and be more sociable these days.  I almost didn’t come here tonight, but I’m so glad I did…”

 

Gail smiles, “Me too.  Are you finding this strange as I do that we still don’t know each other’s name?”

 

“Well, do you want to know mine?”

 

“Not yet.  I’m liking this. No expectations. No judgement. Just two hot ladies enjoying each other.”

 

“Normally I don’t do this, but do you want to get out of here?”

 

Gail stares at her lovely company smiling shyly at her.  She really wants to.  Desperately.  But she can’t.  She can’t risk ruining this with her complicated life situation and let alone even consider possibly sleeping in the bed and potentially scaring her with her dreams.  She mentally freezes her warm beating heart.

“Okay, but I only fuck and leave.  I don’t do cuddling and sleeping together.”

 

The woman blinks and her smile disappears. “What?”

 

“You heard me.  Usually when one says wanna get out of here? That’s a signal for sex.  I’m telling you I would be up for a fuck, but don’t expect anything else than that.”

 

The brunette slowly nods and looks down at her hands.  She sighs and puts her beer down on a coffee table in the front of them and gets up.

 

“Well, I think I’m going to go.  I thought there was something genuine between us, but I must’ve misunderstood you.  Enjoy rest of your beer on me and have a good night.  I’m sure you can find someone else to satisfy your need for fucking.”

 

Gail wants so badly to correct her and admits that she feels something too.  However, she knows she has to let this one go.  She never allows herself to get in anything potentially serious with a normal human being.  Feyians don’t have any type of intimate relationships with mere humans.  She can hear her mother lecturing in her head about avoiding any type of relationship with humans except at professional level.  She cannot afford being found out.  She has this duty to protect her people.  The world is a cruel place and she knows what will happen if people find out about the existence of Feyians.  

 

A crack forms inside her heart as Gail watches this one walk away.

 


	2. Chapter II:Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, this chapter is posted! I apologize for the long wait! Enjoy and I hope you all have a good end to 2015!

A trail of sugar filled crumbs falls down Gail’s chest from her mouth as she eats a doughnut from Piggies’.  Gail moans in pleasure.  God, Piggies’ has the best doughnuts in Toronto and the world in Gail’s totally unbiased opinion.  Oh, their coffee is grand too.  Nothing like the fancy cafes where one has to order in language Gail doesn’t understand.  A black slammer with green eyed monster juice… what the hell is that? All she wants is a black coffee with a shot of espresso.  She takes a sip of the scalding hot coffee and lets her shoulders relax.    
  
A pair of warm chocolate eyes appear in Gail’s mind.  She can almost feel the softness of her thick mane.  She spent most of last night after the disaster thinking about that woman.  Hell, she keeps replaying the good part of her encounter with the stranger ever since she woke up.  She still cannot believe she allowed herself to relax and have a good time with a stranger.  Let alone a human!  That definitely is not one of the smartest things she has done lately.  She has to reminding herself of what happened in her first death dream that makes her keep this self imposed policy of no hand touching with anyone.  
  
A loud rapping against the driver’s window causes Gail to nearly spill her coffee on her lap.  She scowls at the intruder and finds her brother Steve’s smug face nodding at her to roll down the window. She sulkily presses the power button to open the window just a bit.  
  
Steve pouts, “Come on, roll it the whole way down.”  
  
Gail shakes her head firmly like a child, “No.”  
  
Steve sighs, “Gail, I just want to congratulate you on your first day working with your best brother at the 15th.”  
  
“You’re my only brother… calling yourself the best surely says something about you, Balloon-head.”  
  
Steve looks down for a second as he chuckles, “Alright, alright.”  
He is about to say something when Gail’s cellphone rings.  Gail looks down and sees her mother’s name flashing.  She bangs her head against the headrest in frustration.  
  
“Our dear mother?”  
  
Gail looks over at Steve, “What do you think?”  
  
Steve smirks and taps against the window.  
Gail sighs, “No touching.”  
  
Steve raises both of his hands, “Of course.”  
  
Gail still gives him a warning look.  She knows Steve most likely won’t do that to her, especially after what happened last time.  It is in the Peck blood to use their ability to their advantage whenever they can.  That doesn’t mean Gail will allow him to get away with that shit though.  She reluctantly presses the button.  
  
Steve leans forward on the window sill and gives an apologetic smile, “When can I stop being sorry about that? You know I only did that as a last resort.  You weren’t exactly forthcoming.”  
  
“We’ve been through this countless times before.  Get over it.”  
  
“Okay. No more mention of it.  One little suggestion from your big brother… answer Mother’s call.  That way, you won’t have to see her in person today.  Believe me, you don’t want to force her to give you a visit here.”  
  
Gail shrugs, “Let her.  I have plenty of evasive maneuvers in my head that I can use.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and there will be plenty of murders to solve today.”  
  
Steve’s eyes widen, “You do know what that means right?”  
  
“I rather have a thousand death dreams than dealing with our mother, so yes I know what I meant.”  
  
Steve decides to let this one go and nods, “Alright. Well, I’m looking forward to having you here.  We’ll be the Peck duo closing cases like the aces we are.”  
  
“Steve, you are still a fucking dork. Go away, so I can finish my breakfast in peace before I have to go in.”  
  
Steve gives Gail a big smile before backing off as Gail presses the power button to put the transparent wall back up between them.  
  


* * *

  
  
Gail props herself against the wall by Oliver Shaw’s office door.  She keeps her aviator glasses on, so she can observe the people pretending to not stare at her and whisper nonsense to each other.  The moment she enters the building, people know immediately who she is.  People always make their own assumptions about the Pecks, so she exhibits her badassery right from the start.  She adjusts her heavy black leather jacket and taps her foot on the wall in annoyance.  She hates to wait and she hates having to deal with the necessity of social politics within the division even more.    
  
The door opens and Oliver pops out, “Gail! Good to see you, come in.”  
  
Gail waits until she’s completely in the office before taking off her sunglasses and giving Oliver a genuine smile.  Oliver probably is one of the very few people she truly likes.  She is pretty sure she can count the amount with just one hand.    
  
Oliver settles in his seat behind his desk and claps his hands.  “I’m so happy to have you here at my division!  It’s been too long since the old days of you riding shotgun in my car as I did my patrols. Those were the good old days.”  
  
Gail chuckles, “Yeah you’re getting old and growing a pot belly by sitting behind that desk, Oliver.”    
  
“What can I say? I love my shawarma!”  
  
Gail moans, “From Byblo’s?”  
  
Oliver smacks his lips and nods.  
  
Gail slaps the desk, “We need to have lunch sometime this week at Byblo’s!”  
  
“Sure, sure. After you get all settled in.  We will have lunch and eat all shawarma we can stuff in our bellies.”    
  
“You’re on, Oliver.”  
  
“Alright, business time.  Welcome to the 15th Division and blah blah.  As you probably already knew, you’re assigned to Homicides.”  
  
“Good, I don’t want to be in the Guns and Gangs and deal with Steve’s stupidity.”  
  
“Don’t worry.  Your partner is great and hard working.”  
  
“She doesn’t know, right?”  
  
“Of course not. I’m the only one around here who’s enlightened about your family and… your kind.”  
  
Oliver is one of the very few humans aware of the existence of Feyians.  Elaine Peck choose him on purpose because of his loyalty and ability to keep his trap shut.  They have a long history of a working relationship and Oliver has a high respect for the Pecks.  She used to be his training officer after all.  He takes care of handling the Feyians’ affairs within the jurisdiction of 15th Divison discreetly.    
  
They hear knocking on the door and Oliver rises from his seat,  “That’s probably your new partner.  Come in!”  
  
A dark skinned woman, wearing red wine blouse and black slacks, walks in and greets Oliver,  “Hello, sorry I’m few minutes late.  Leo’s been a pain in the ass to get ready for school this morning.”  
  
Oliver gets up from his chair and pats Gail’s new partner’s shoulder, “That’s alright, Traci. Your new partner just got here too,” he points at Gail.  
  
Gail gets up and introduces herself, “I’m Gail Peck.”  
  
Traci smiles and puts out her hand, “I’m Traci Nash.  I heard a lot about you from Oliver.”  
  
Gail refuses to shakes Traci’s hand for a good reason,  “Not just Oliver I’m sure. People like to talk shit about the Pecks.  We’re something like Coruzzi mafia in Toronto, except for cops, right?”  
  
Traci struggles to come up with response for that, so she decides to withdraw her hand as a stalling tactic and comes up with a nice remark, “Well, I worked with Steve a couple times and he’s nice.”  
  
Gail scoffs, “Nice? He thinks he’s such a hotshot solving cases here and there like an ace, when he’s really just a deuce.”  
  
Traci laughs, “Two’s are all you need if you got cards of nineteen.”  
  
Gail’s surprised by the way Traci took her snarks well.  Maybe this time she will be able to work with a partner without trouble.  She rarely can keep a partner for any longer than a month or two.  Oliver stands between the two ladies and put his hands on each shoulder.  Gail notices how careful Oliver is with putting his hand strictly on her jacket without touching her skin.  She’s grateful for his discreet caution without making a big deal out of it.    
  
“Alright girls, why don’t you head out and Traci, you can get Gail up to the date on your current open cases-“  
  
A tall brown haired male officer opens the door and pops his head in, “Sorry, we just got a call.  There’s a body at Abbey Lane off Sherborne Street.”  
  
Oliver smiles at Gail and Traci, “Looks like a perfect time for you to start working together.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Gail and Traci approach the police yellow tape and an officer is standing at his post.  He nods at Traci, “Hey Traci, how is it going?”  
  
“Fine, Dov.  This is my new partner Det. Gail Peck,” she looks at Gail, “and this is Dov Epstein, we graduated together from the academy.”  
  
Dov slowly scans Gail before remarks, “Ah, another Peck huh?  Your mommy feel the need to keep us in check? Steve ain’t enough?”  
  
Gail gives him an icy stare and lifts up the tape to walk under without saying anything.  Traci shakes her head at Dov, “Really Dov? Did you really have to say that?”  
  
Dov puts on an innocent face, “What? Can’t she take a joke?”  
  
Gail stands not far from the tape and surveys the area quietly.  There is a construction zone walled in one corner and a beauty salon on the other side of the road.  Abbey Lane is really more of an alley rather than a short lane due to the construction taking up most of the space.  It looks like they are building an new office building.  She notices a foot poking out from behind an overfilled dumpster not far down the lane.  Slowly, she walks a straight direct line to the dumpster and sees rest of the body being covered by a large coat. She detects a faint trail of what probably is blood from the body to down by the construction wall and seems to end at the corner.    
  
Traci walks up by Gail and Gail comments, “The body’s been moved,” points at the trail, “Look. Most likely blood coming from the corner over there.”  
  
Traci agrees, “Yeah. Something obviously happened at the corner and the body got moved over here to be hidden.”  
  
Gail looks around and taps her foot, “Where the hell is the necromancer and geeky minions?”  
  
Track gives her a puzzled look, “Necromancer?”  
  
Gail shrugs, “Yeah, you know… forensic geeks. They need to do their thing so I can see the damn body and get this over with.”  
  
“Speaking of that, here’s Dr. Stewart.”  
  
Gail looks over at the direction of Traci’s eyesight.  A woman with brown hair and glasses just walks under the tape and greets Dov with a friendly smile.  Gail wonders why she looks so familiar. As she gets closer to Gail and Traci, Gail’s heart beats heavily.  Shit, that is the woman she met at Alex’s last night.  Gail takes advantage of the time she has waiting for her to arrive and takes in her beauty.  She is wearing a plain grey coat with a brown sweater under and clean jeans, and carries a red cube-like bag.  Her hair has just right amount of waves and volume without being too dramatic.  God, she looks gorgeous in daylight.  Gail can’t help herself and quietly whispers, “Shit.”  
  
Traci hears her and turns around to face her, “What?”  
  
Gail doesn’t want to explain herself to Traci.  She is saved by the grace of the woman whom is stuck in Gail’s mind.  She waves at Traci, “Hello, good to see you.”  
  
Traci waves back, “Good to see you too.  Gail, this is Dr. Holly Stewart.  She’s a forensic pathologist.  She’s the best in Toronto.”  
  
Holly stares at Gail for a little bit, recognizing her and decides to treat her like a stranger.  Better to be professional and act like last night never happened. “Nice to meet you…”  
  
Gail frowns in confusion.  It takes her a minute to recognize what Holly is doing.  She understands why and decides to follow along with Holly’s act.  “Gail Peck.”  
  
Traci can senses awkwardness between the two women, so she attempts to keep things friendly and professional, “Gail’s my new partner.  She just transferred to 15th from…”  
  
“27th.”  
  
Holly puts on a polite smile, “Ah, I don’t think I’ve worked with anyone from there yet.  I think Dr. Nelson usually take care of that area.”  
  
Gail deadpans, “Yeah that old geezer needs to retire already.  He’s the reason I call your kind necromancers and minions.”  
  
Traci widens her eyes at Gail in shock.  Holly looks taken back, but then she laughs, “Well, we are lousy necromancers then.  They usually raise the dead, don’t they?”    
  
Gail smirks at Holly as Holly turns around and walks to the body and does her thing.  That woman is going to make it impossible for Gail to stay away from her.  The thing is she cannot decide if she’s excited or upset about that.  
  



	3. Chapter III:Lunchbox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for short chapter but I just had to stop at the ending. Don't worry, I'm already working on next chapter so it won't be long until next update. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The crime scene is nearly assessed by the forensic team and they are cleaning up after themselves.  Gail stands in front of a beauty salon on the other side of the street from the crime scene.  She surveys the scene, memorizing the locations of evidence pointers.  She likes to stand back and observe the scene, watching the minions doing their geeky routines.  Another benefit of being where she stands is watching Holly processing the body without being caught.  
  
Not that she would be caught.  Any normal detective would be observing like she is.  She’s perfectly being a professional and taking in information from a far like a smart detective.  Right?  
  
“What are you looking at?”  
  
Gail gets startled by Traci, who appears out of nowhere and is standing right next to Gail.  Why is her heart pounding as if she got caught doing something she isn’t supposed to be doing? Gail clears her throat to delay having to answer Traci’s question as long as possible and coming up with an excuse in time.  
  
“Holly.”  
  
What? That is not what Gail wants to say in first place. In fact, that is the last possible response she wants to say.  Ever.  Traci looks at Gail with a puzzling look. Gail shrugs in her lame attempt at being nonchalant in front of Traci.  
  
“Well, she’s standing right there by the body.  Look at how far she is from that corner where we found that big splatter of blood.  That’s where the victim died.  He’s been moved all the way over behind that dumpster.  That’s got to be over fifty feet.  Why would someone drag a body that far and right behind the dumpster when there’s better hiding places closer like inside the construction area.  The temporary door is not even locked and it’s not far off from the corner.”  
Traci remains quiet and processes Gail’s observations.  Gail decides to continue with her observations.  
  
“Anyway, when we first saw the body, he was covered with a really nice coat.  Plus his arms were crossed like a dead person in a coffin. That tells me the suspect had to grieve so it’s highly likely they knew each other.”  
  
“Or the suspect just felt bad for killing him?”  
  
“Enough to put a Burberry coat on a stranger? That’s like worth a grand.”  
  
Traci’s eyes widen, “How do you know that?”  
  
Gail rolls her eyes, “Side effect of being a Peck.”  
  
Traci understands what Gail means by her comment. The Pecks are very well known not only in the police force, but Toronto in general.  It’s not surprising that Gail probably socializes with a lot of people with deep pockets.  
  
“Well, that’s certainly odd but we need more,” remarks Traci.  
  
Gail notices Holly bends down to put her equipment back in the red box and starts heading over to her direction, “Let’s go and see what the Unholy One has to say.”  
  
Track shakes her head in amusement before following Gail.  She is starting to realize the depth of Gail’s snark.  It’s going to be very interesting partnership.  
  
Gail knows she needs to come up with something to say to Holly.  Should she acts like a total professional and uses Dr. Stewart? Or spit out her snark with Unholy One? No, that would be lame.  Holly probably will dispute her with a clever remark about impracticability of her being one.  She inspires some unholy thoughts in Gail.  Not that she will use that excuse publicly. Like ever.  Gail arrives right behind Holly and puts her hands in her jacket pockets.    
  
“Hey Lunchbox,” Gail casually greets.  Holly doesn’t answer and continues her packing.  Gail blow air up her face in annoyance.    
  
“You. I’m talking to you, Lunchbox,” emphasizes Gail.  
  
Holly stands up and looks at Gail sharply, “Lunchbox?”  
  
Gail points with her nose at the red cube Holly was packing her equipment in before being interrupted.  
  
“Oh that? That’s a forensic kit, not a lunchbox.”  
  
“Sure looks like one to me.  Doesn’t matter.  You’re done right?”  
  
Holly puts on an amusing face and nods.  Gail waits for Holly to say something but she continues to stare right back at Gail.  With a damn smirk.  Gail unconsciously bites her bottom lip.  Traci appears and notices a staring contest between the two women.  
  
“Um, is everything alright?”  
  
Gail sighs without dropping her eyes off Holly’s and complains, “I’m waiting to hear from her about what she can tell from her analysis on the body.  I’m hoping to be able to get lunch at a decent time.”  
  
Holly wants to laugh so badly, but she keeps it in and fixes her glasses before speaking, “Well, Traci and Detective Peck, I am sure you both are aware with how the whole process works.  I can only offer you my preliminary findings and you both will need to wait for the results from my autopsy and other forensic procedures, which could take up to a week or two, depending on which procedure we are talking about-“  
  
Gail tunes into Holly and keeps finding her facial expressions and waving hand movements fascinating.  This is the first time she found someone’s blabbing to be… adorable? She usually hates it when people blab as she sees it as a waste of time.  Not Holly.  She could listen to her all day long.  Moaning and screaming all night long would be better.    
  
Gail shakes her head out of the gutter and puts her hands up, “Stop talking so much. Just tell us what you have so far…”  
  
Holly leans her head sideways and glares at Gail.  Gail backs down, “… please?”  
  
Holly slightly nods at Gail, thinking Traci is not paying attention.  Traci definitely is.  
  
Holly bends down to pick up an evidence bag with a wallet in it and gives it to Traci, “that is the victim’s wallet.  His name was Edward Stevens, twenty one years old, has a George Brown College student ID, and it still has cash and cards.”    
  
“This been checked for prints yet?” inquires Traci.  
  
Holly nods and Traci takes the wallet out of the bag and starts going through the cards.  
  
“Anyways, from my preliminary examination of the body, I can only tell you few things.  The liver temp indicates he died not that long ago.  Maybe four to eight hours.  Both of his legs are clearly broken, possibly pelvis too, signs of internal bleeding around chest and abdomen area, and his head shows severe trauma.  If I have to guess at this point, I’d say he was hit by a vehicle of some kind.”  
  
Holly’s mention of the  death timetable makes Gail realize what she needs to do.  She will have to go with Holly and get to the body without anyone catching her.  If this guy, Edward, died max eight hours ago then that means she has 16 hours before it’s too late.  This is going to be a pain in the ass.  
  
“That would make sense.  Someone hit him and moved his body, making this a hit and run,” muses Traci.  
  
“It’s certainly a possibility.  I better head out and get started on the body.  I’ll send the results as soon as I get them,” informs Holly before heading for her company car, a blue Ford Focus.  Gail knows she has to join Holly, so she starts walking after her and hollers, “Wait! I’ll go with you!”  
  
Traci jogs and catches up to Gail’s pace, “Gail?”  
  
Gail stops, “Oh yeah, you deal with people and I’ll deal with sciencey stuff.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because I hate people,” Gail exclaims before running after Holly.  Traci chuckles and heads back to Dov to give the officers interview assignments.    
  
Gail absolutely hates running and avoids it at all costs.  Damn Holly for power walking to her car and not waiting for Gail.  She decides to run and looks around making sure nobody’s paying attention.  She just can’t have her reputation be ruined on her first day.  No way.  
  
“Wait!”  
  
Holly stops by the driver’s door and glowers at Gail.  Gail arrives by her side and puts some distance between them.    
  
“Look, I know this is weird… we didn’t hit it off last night and that’s fine.  It’s not as if we knew we were working together.  That’s just a weird coincidence-"  
  
Holly interrupts, "It's fine.  You're right.  It's clear we both had different intentions last night, and we misunderstood each other.  I'm fine with remaining on a professional level with you.  Consider last night completely forgotten."  
  
The last sentence that came out of Holly's mouth stabs at Gail's heart a little.  Why?  It's not as if they know each other at all. She only found out Holly's name today.  Shake it off, she tells herself.  
  
"Fine."  
  
Holly nods in agreement and opens the door.  Gail jogs over to the passenger side and gets in at same time as Holly.  Holly stares at Gail with a raised eyebrow, "What are you doing?"  
  
Gail raises both of her eyebrows, "Isn't it obvious? I'm coming with you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"So I can get information from you as you go through your dark arts."  
  
"Hmm, normally detectives wait at least couple hours before coming in for an update."    
  
Gail shrugs, "I work better with evidence than people.  Plus dead bodies don't really bother me."  
  
That is very true for Gail.  Especially after working in homicide for three years now and that is not counting the curse she has carried ever since she was twelve. Experiencing death in so many ways sort of make one desensitized to it.  
  
"I can understand that. Hence me working with dead bodies rather than alive people."  
  
They stare at each other for a moment and burst in laughter at same time.  Gail sighs quietly as she ponders how Holly just gets her.  It's going to be fun and a torture working with Holly.  Holly start the ignitor and start driving in the direction of morgue.  Gail leans back and makes herself relax a little.  
  
A stampede is forming in Gail's stomach.  She peeks at the clock on the radio and notices it's ten until eleven.  Bit early for lunch, but her stomach is turning into a rancor living in her tummy cave.  It needs snacks.  
  
"Lunchbox, take that right and park in the lot two blocks down.  I'm hungry and I want cheese puffs."  
  
"That stuff is awful for you, Gail."  
  
Gail looks at window, hiding a smile forming on her face.  That's first time Holly calls her by her first name.  A flutter of warmth waves around in Gail's chest.    
  
"I'll take you to this great Indian place.  They serve fast and we can just get take out and bring it to the lab.  You'll have to eat in my office though."  
  
Gail refuses to admit her glee, so she scowls, "Nobody denies me my cheese puffs and survives."  
  
Holly puts on a lopsided smirk, "I have a feeling I'll live no problem."  
  
  



	4. Chapter IV:Secrets

    Gail leans her head against the headrest of Holly’s office chair and lets out a quiet moan.  God, this is the most incredible sensation she’s ever experienced in her life.  Amazingly, this is Holly’s idea and Gail is secretly grateful for Holly’s brilliant idea.  She normally would never go for this.  This is not like her, but she cannot find it in herself to care at the moment.  
  
“God, Holly…” Gail groans before a hint of warm liquid spills out of her mouth.  
  
“Tastes amazing, huh?”  
  
    Gail licks all over her lips, gathering juices and not wanting to waste any of it. “This is not possible.  How can something so disgustingly healthy be this heavenly?”  
  
Holly looks down, hiding a faint blush on her cheeks from Gail’s eyes, and chuckles, “Moongachi Usali.”  
  
Gail glares at Holly with her “what the hell are you saying” face.  That only spurs Holly to laugh more.    
  
“It’s a vegetarian dish made mainly with mung beans.”  
  
“No meat or cheese?”  
  
“No. Just beans, spices, chiles, and coconut. I tried it for the first time when I lived in India and I just couldn’t stop eating it ever since.  It’s one of my favorite dishes.”  
  
Gail’s eyes widen in surprise, “India? You lived there?”  
  
Holly nods, “Yeah for a year and half right after medical school.  I was having a some kind of identity crisis at the time and just wanted to get away.”  
  
    Gail knew the feeling all too well.  She recalls her trip to Europe right before she entered the police academy.  It was her summer of refuge from the curse and heavy expectations.    
  
“I did the same thing before I entered the police academy,” Gail blurts out before realizing she is opening herself to Holly already.  What is it with this woman?  
  
    Holly is a little surprised by this reveal by Gail and knows she shouldn’t take this lightly.  She can tell Gail is like a wild cat; distrusting and can give a mean bite, but all warm and soft inside. She asks softly, “Yeah? Where did you go?”  
  
    Gail puts her plate down on the desk and starts swiveling her chair back and forth and looks anywhere other than Holly’s face, which is giving her too much feeling bubbling up in her chest.    
  
“I went to Europe.  France.  Italy.  Spain.  Even Ireland for two days during a layover.  It was my last shot at having my freedom.”  
  
    Why is Gail opening up like this?  She barely knows Holly, having only met her last night and they even agreed to be on professional terms.  Is this still professional?  Gail decides to go with the excuse of building rapport with a co-worker.  That’s all this is.    
  
    Gail notices a framed photo of two girls on Holly’s desk.  One looks like a younger Holly, maybe thirteen, smiling and sticking her tongue out between her braced teeth.  The other one looks older, possibly eighteen, has lighter brown hair than Holly, and one eye shut and another barely open; a terrible attempt at winking.   Gail could tell they are sisters. Both wore glasses and have similar facial bone structure, except for the nose.     
  
“I bet that geeky looking girl in the picture is you, Holly.”  
  
Holly leans forward to peek at the picture and smirks.  “Which one?”  
  
“The only one, Holly.  Braces plus glasses equal a total nerd.”  
  
“And just glasses isn’t?”  
  
“Glasses can be hot.  Like a sexy librarian.”  
  
“Try a lawyer.”  
  
“What?”  
  
    Holly dreads this part.  She knows this conversation probably will lead to questions about her family.  She hates talking about her family because there isn’t much to talk about.    
  
“My sister is a lawyer.  She works at Ward and Stewart.”  
  
    Gail notices a hint of sadness in Holly’s face.  Her smirk disappears and warmth disappears from her skin.  That really bothers Gail and she wants to make things better.  
  
“Well, your parents must be proud to have two kids with great careers. A hotshot lawyer and a genius necromancer.”  
  
    Here it is, Holly thinks to herself.  It is almost like coming out as a lesbian.  She hates confessing about her dead parents.  She wishes there’s a better way to disclose the information without making things awkward.  
  
“It’s just two of us.  Been that way for a long time.”     
  
    Well, that’s an epic failure on Gail’s part.  Gail never likes to deal with people’s emotions and she’s awful at sympathy.  Might as well be honest.  
  
“Sorry, I’m an asshole.  I don’t know what to say.”  
  
    Holly understands and she really doesn’t want any pity from anyone.  Sure it still hurts, but she moved on years ago.  The air between them was getting a little awkward, so Holly does what she does best.  She gets up and cleans up her lunch.  
  
“It’s fine.  It happened long time ago and I’m fine, honestly.  Look at the time.  I normally don’t take a lunch break this long.  I should get started.  You can stay and eat or whatever.  Enjoy your break.”  
  
    Holly smiles at Gail and leaves the room quickly.  Gail’s mouth drops open but nothing comes out.  Holly’s gone before Gail could come up with something.  What is she supposed to say?  She only needs to be here for the body in the first place.  That’s her only goal.  Definitely just that.    
  
    Gail decides to get up and throw away her lunch.  All of a sudden she is not hungry.  She peeks through the small window on the door and sees Holly going through the sanitation process before starting the autopsy.  Pathologists like Holly need to be focused and not distracted during autopsies so they don’t miss any details.  Gail has worked with many during her tenure at the 27th Division, so she know it's better to sit and wait a while.  She trusts herself to find the right timing to do her thing and get out of here.    
  
    On the other side of the door, Holly finishes sanitizing herself and walks upon the slab where the body is.  Her glasses are already on a small desk along with her tablet.  The sheet is removed from top of the body and Holly slowly scans every detail on the body.  A hint of blue glow appears throughout the body and intense red flickers on left femoral area.  Holly takes a closer look and whispers to herself, “Exsanguination.”  
  


* * *

  
  
    Gail wanders around in a tight circle and absorbs all the details about Holly she could find.  There is a bookshelf full of medical journals and textbooks all worn.  She wonders how many times Holly has read each one of them.  A bronze statue of a Hindu style woman playing a stringed instrument acts as a bookend.  Gail has no clue what that is supposed to represent, but she has a feeling Holly keeps it as a reminder.  The wall between the bookshelf and the desk has five degrees and certificates hung in an orderly fashion.  Of course Holly is such a genius, Gail tells herself.  And way out of her league.  Not that she is even considering Holly as anything except a colleague.    
  
    A metallic clang resounds from outside the office and shakes Gail out of her inner thoughts.  She walks out to see Holly taking off her gloves and the body gone from the table.  Holly must’ve put the body away already.    
  
Gail asks,“All done?”  
  
Holly abruptly looks at Gail and gasps,  “God, you startled me.”  
  
Gail quips, “Mission accomplished.  What did you find from the autopsy?”  
  
    Holly grabs her glasses and puts it on.  “Well some evidence is still being processed, so I don’t have all the information.  However, I can tell you that the bone fractures definitely imply an impact by a vehicle.  Most likely something a little bit big like a SUV or small truck.  The cause of death is exsanguination.  According to the small size of the tear in the femoral artery, he was alive for approximately an hour from time of impact.”  
  
Gail grimaces, “So that means he could’ve survived if the suspect had called for an ambulance.”  
  
Holly sighs, “It’s not guaranteed but he could’ve had a chance. Definitely paralyzed, but still a chance.”  
  
    Gail hates this type of death.  Not only is the victim an innocent, but it took him a while to die.  She really doesn’t want to do what she has to.  But, it will be all worth it once she sees who did it.  Tonight is not going to be a good night.    
  
    Holly could see the tone of struggle on Gail’s face.  She notices Gail lightly biting her bottom lip with just her top teeth and she is looking at something behind Holly.  She knows Gail is pretending to look at her while avoiding actual eye contact.  Gail needs Holly to keep it professional and keep emotions out of the conversation and Holly knows it.  
  
“I collected a lot of samples from the body.  I found what looks like car paint and maybe pieces of metal.  It’s possible to find out car model depending on the result.  I’ll let you know as soon as possible if anything comes out.”  
  
Now, Gail needs to come up with an excuse to remain in the morgue alone.  She looks around for something… anything to use.  Holly follows her eyesight and cautiously asks, “Is everything alright?”  
  
Gail freezes and stutters faintly, “Umm, I—“  
  
A cell phone rings in a pocket on Gail’s jacket.  She takes it out and sees Traci’s name flashing.  
  
“I need to get this, Holly.  Why don’t you go ahead and get started on those samples you got there.  I’ll get out of here when I’m done with this call.”    
  
“Okay, I’ll give you a call when I get results.”  
  
Gail nods and waves before answering her phone.  “What you got, Traci?”  
  
“Straight to the business, huh?”  
  
“Yep, I just spoke with Dr. Stewart about her autopsy result.  Cause of death is bleeding out through the femoral artery.  Dr. Stewart estimates that he probably was alive for up to an hour after he got hit.”  
  
“Jesus.  We got a footage from a security camera from the beauty salon.  Good news is we got the incident recorded.  Bad news is the suspect’s face is too blurry to be identified.  We know it’s a male so that’s a start.  The vehicle in question is a Porsche Cayenne and the plates aren’t legible either.”  
  
“Porsche huh? Must be a rich boy.”  
  
“Most likely.    
  
Gail ponders, “ That’s odd.  I get the hunch that they knew each other.  Why else would he cover the victim with his coat? Drag him all the way behind the dumpster?”  
  
“We just need to do old fashioned detective work and talk to people who knew the victim and go from there.”  
  
Gail isn’t going to wait around.  She’s going to find out tonight.    
  
“Alright, let’s meet up at the station tomorrow morning and we will compare our work.”  
  
“Sounds good, Gail.”  
  
“You know… you aren’t bad.” Gail reluctantly admits.    
  
“Yeah, I like you too.  We will make a great team.  Good night,” Traci laughs before hanging up.  
  
    Gail smiles and puts her cell phone back  in the pocket.  She is glad she got a partner that seems to work well together.  Her last several partners were dumb and boring,  and that is Gail being nice. She takes a deep breath and walk over to the exit doors and peeks through the windows.  Not a hint of a soul in the hallway as far as Gail can see.  All is clear, she tells herself and walks back to the refrigerated storage units.  Gail likes to call those body lockers.  She finds Edward Stevens’ tag number on a door in the middle and two doors to her left.  She heads over and opens the door to drag out the body on the tray. She peeks over her shoulder just to check one more time and the coast still seems to be clear.  The body of Edward Stevens is still covered with a white sheet.  
  
Her heart begins to beat increasingly faster.  
  
    Gail grasps her chest and shut her eyes tight.  No matter how many time she has done this, she still gets swallowed by the anxiety.  Knowing what is certainly to come doesn’t make it easier.  It just makes it worse.    
  
 _“This is the gift you’re bestowed.  It is your honor to carry the burden.  You’re a Peck.  Just suck it up and you’ll get used to it.  We all have our own pain we carry.”_  
  
    A mirage of Elaine Peck appears in Gail’s mind, scolding these words at her.  The message has been drilled deep into Gail’s memory.  She takes a deep breath before opening her eyes and pushes her inner turmoil aside.    
  
    Gail’s hand slowly reaches for a corner of the sheet and drags it over the body to the abdomen.  Edward Stevens’ face remains stoic and eyes shut as if he is asleep.  Good, just rest and justice will be served soon.  Slowly, Gail places her right hand palm on the arm in front of her.  The tips of her fingers tingle at the moment of contact and she knows it’s done.  There’s no turning back.  Never was in the first place.  
  
    The body was hurriedly put back where it belonged and Gail gathers her stuff from Holly’s office and heads out of the lab.  She pauses in the hallway as her stomach growls.  Geez, time for dinner.  Cheese puffs will be a big part of her dinner tonight since Holly tricked her into eating that healthy crap.  Delicious but still she needs fake cheese in her tummy.    
  
    Gail chuckles to herself as she heads for the exit.  However, she fails to notice a shadowy figure hiding around the corner in the opposite direction of where Gail is heading.  After Gail walks through an exit door,  Holly appears out from her hiding spot.  Holly already caught what Gail had been doing with the body in the room.    
  
She asks herself, “What was Gail doing?  Is she…?” 


	5. Chapter V:Darkness

The subway train hurtles through an underground tunnel.  Each section is barely filled and Holly figures this is one good outcome from getting off work late.  Someone messed up the courier order and the samples never made it to the Centre for Forensic Sciences for analysis.  Fortunately, Holly always makes sure the technicians collect a minimum two samples of everything when possible.  They are able to send another order, so there is nothing to be worried about for now.  Between fixing the problem and being distracted by a certain someone,  Holly didn’t get out of work until well past 8 pm and last thing she ate was the Indian lunch with Gail.  

 

Gail.  The certain someone.

 

Holly stares past the window at the lights sliding past her, and a medical journal being barely held by her hand all forgotten.  

 

   She doesn’t know what to think or feel about Gail.  She smiles as she recalls last night at Alex’s and how well she got along with Gail before the abrupt end.  That version of Gail is so enticing.  Gorgeous in a classic forties way with the blonde hair, porcelain skin, and the eyes.  Oh, those beautiful and bold blue eyes that pierce Holly’s heart.  

 

Holly closes her eyes in embarrassment.  God, she is such a sap.  She only knows Gail for less than twenty four hours.

 

   However, she had a wonderful time with Gail right from the moment they met.  Normally, she didn’t go out for drinks on weeknights, except maybe a beer during happy hour, but then she would be home and in bed by ten.  Yesterday, she finally submitted an article on diatoms in the bones of drowned victims and she really wanted to go out and treat herself.   She didn’t expect to meet someone, let alone have an amazing time with a stranger.  Stories like drunken escapades and bad dates were shared between them for few hours while they helped Alex finish the bottle of mezcal.  

 

   Oh, the worm and the kiss.  It only last maybe two or three seconds, but Holly had never felt so much.  She reflects back and their lips really only brushed each other.  In those seconds, her heart exploded and warmth spread through her body.  Unfortunately, the disgusting earthy taste spoiled the kiss.  

 

Just like how Gail’s fucking remark ruined the night.

 

“Spadina Station.”

 

   Shit, that’s her stop.  She hastily jams her book in her messenger bag and rushes out of the train right before the door closes.  Thoughts about Gail had to stop and she shoved the thoughts way back in her head.  Gail made it clear what she was interested in, and that is not something Holly was into.  The research on diatoms is more important to focus on anyway. She will forget about Gail in no time.  Right?  

 

Wrong.

 

   Holly has always been proud of herself for getting a lot of things right.  She aced her medical exams and is never wrong about cause of death.  Except for Gail Peck.  Boy, she surely got this one wrong.  She spends maybe five minutes thinking about the next step she wants to take in her research.  Thinking about diatoms leads to bones, which leads to the hit and run case… and that goes straight to Gail.  Maybe not straight, but the point still stands.  

 

   The walk from the subway station to her condo building only takes her five minutes and she is already thinking about Gail by the time she enters the building.  She presses her floor button in the elevator and leans against the metallic wall as the elevator slowly climbs.  

 

   When she first met Gail at the crime scene, her stomach turned sour with dread and she isn’t sure how to act around her.  She figures she should just act like they are strangers to each other.  Technically, that is true anyway.

 

   Gail’s snarky remarks about necromancer and minions still make Holly giggle even now.  She can’t help herself but banter right back at Gail.  It’s amazing how they get along so well despite the awkwardness of their situation.  Before she knows it, Gail has already come up with a nickname for her.  Lunchbox.  Which reminds her of the lovely lunch they had together earlier.  She shudders a little as she remembers Gail’s moans while eating the moongachi usali.  

 

   The elevator beeps, bringing Holly back to reality, and the door opens.  Almost home.  Just three doors down the hallway to her left.  She’s going to pour herself some red wine and order take out.  Too tired to cook and to be honest, she would be too distracted to make anything remotely edible.  

 

   Finally, she arrives at her front door, unlocks it, and enters in her dark sanctuary.  It’s been almost two years since she moved in and she is well familiar with the layout.  Enough that she could walk around without turning the lights on.  Kitchen, living room, and dining area are all connected in an open space layout.  Holly already memorized the placement of all furniture and she keeps her home pretty neat.  The messenger bag slips from Holly’s grip and falls on the floor by the coat closet, and she puts away her coat before heading for the kitchen in the dark.

 

“Forgot to pay your electricity bill?” an irritating, yet familiar voice says coming from the living room.

 

   Holly spins around to see a table lamp being turned on by an slightly older woman sitting on a sofa.  She is wearing black pants, white blouse with a black tie, and a houndstooth jacket.  She gets up from the sofa and approaches Holly, who is grasping her chest a little.

 

“Delma, you got to stop doing that.”  

 

“What? I got here and you weren’t home, so I decided to rest my eyes in the dark while I waited.”

 

   Holly tilts her head to her left and scowls at Delma.  Delma mimics her head movement and scowls right back at her,  “What is up with you? Normally, you would’ve noticed my presence easily.”

 

“Sorry, it’s been a long day,” Holly grumbles as she heads in the kitchen, turns on the light, and search for takeout menus, “and I’m famished.”

 

Delma follows Holly and stops her,  “I already got us some dinner.  It’s in the refrigerator.”

 

“Oh? We didn’t make dinner plans for tonight, did we?”

 

“No. Consider this a form of my apology.”

 

“For what…”

 

Holly realizes what Delma is really apologizing for and lets out a frustrated sigh.

 

“Oh. You’re canceling our Sunday dinner? Again?”

 

Delma casually leans against the kitchen counter next to Holly.  “Yeah, I need to accompany Mr. Ward to a dinner with his client.  They have a court appearance on Monday to prepare for.”

 

Holly is not surprised to hear this from her elder sister and that really pisses her off.

 

“Great,” Holly says with a monotone voice as she gathers food from the refrigerator and starts making herself a plate.

 

“Hols,  this is important.  You know that.”

 

Holly shrugs, “I guess so.  Work over family.  Being Mr. Ward’s lapdog.  Just like Dad.”

 

Holly winces immediately after she says that.  She knows Delma will not take that kindly.  

 

“Really Holly? You want to go there?  I am working my ass off to take back what is supposed to be ours.  I’m not perfect, but at least I didn’t run away to India to avoid our past.”

 

Ouch.  Holly shoots her eyes at Delma and whispers, “Fuck you…”

 

Delma sighs,  “I don’t want to fight.  Yes, I’m being Mr. Ward’s bitch, but it will be all worth it in the end.  He took everything from us.  He pulled the firm from under Dad’s feet and got Mom and him killed.  I’m doing this for us.  We’re all we got.”

 

“I don’t want anything to do with that man.  I don’t even want the firm.”

 

“Fine, I do.  I want the firm for myself then.”

 

   The Stewart sisters determinedly stare at each other.  This is not their first fight about Delma’s ambitions, nor will it be their last.  Holly knows it’s futile to try to stop Delma from pursuing her goals.  It’s sort of the Stewart gene to be a workaholic and ambitious.

 

Holly gives up and asks, “Hungry?”

 

   Delma smiles a little, nods, and takes a plate to dump the food on.  Holly remains quiet for a few minutes before muttering, “I’m just worried about you, Del.  You’re all I got and I really can’t lose you.”

 

Delma confidently says, “You won’t.  I’m fine.  I’ve been a dirty lapdog for a long time now.  Soon enough, things will change for the better.”  

 

Holly is not sure if she really believes in Delma.  She doesn’t say that to her though.

 

Delma decides to change the subject, “So you’ve had a long day? How come?”

 

   Delma just finished putting her plate together, so they head out to sit on the sofa and face each other.  Holly begins talking about her day at work and how the samples got messed up, delaying the process by several hours.  She smiles a little once she recalls Gail Peck and their interactions during the day.  Delma, being a great sister, catches the smile.

 

“You met someone.”

 

Holly exasperatedly groans, “Stop being a lawyer.”

 

Delma smirks,  “Can’t help it.  It’s in my blood.”

 

“Well, I didn’t exactly meet someone as in dating.  It’s just…”

 

“Crush?”

 

Holly nods, “You could say that.”

 

Delma takes a bite from her plate and encourages Holly to tell her all about the crush.

 

“She’s a detective and so gorgeous.  Like a vintage blonde…”

 

* * *

 

_  The night air is crisp and Gail knows it’s very cold but she can’t feel anything.  The body she is occupying feels all numb and woozy.  Her vision is fuzzy and her sense of balance is not entirely there.  This feeling is familiar…. Almost like how she gets after a night at Alex’s.  Drunk.  That’s exactly it.  The sidewalk seems very uneven as she walk along and she instinctively turns around the corner and the area looks familiar.  She spots the beauty salon and the construction zone.  This is where Edward Stevens died.   She mentally groans, not only because of upcoming pain she surely will experience, but her bladder feels beyond full.  Well, technically it is not her bladder.   _

 

_    All of a sudden, Gail starts clumsily jogging to the temporary tall fence surrounding the construction area and picks a spot to stand.  Her right hand goes down and drag down the zipper on her pant.  Gail hates this part… watching the body she occupies taking care of human business.  Everyone pisses and shits, but she certainly does not want to see a man pissing, especially being that guy.  It’s a weird experience though, peeing with a different instrument than what she has.  A sense of relief overcomes Gail as she takes care of the business.  Slowly, she starts moving, drawing something on the wall. _

 

_ Two half-circles and two dots. _

 

_ Boobs. _

 

_ Figures.   _

 

_    After emptying her bladder, she stumbles upon the corner and a set of bright lights rapidly approaches her.  Before she realizes what the lights are, she gets hit, really hit, and falls back a couple feet.  The air gets knocked out of her chest and she couldn’t breathe.  It takes her a while to understand what just happened and tries to move her arms.  Nothing.  Maybe she can turn her head around… nothing.  In fact, she can’t feel her body move anymore.  She remembers Holly’s words about how likely Edward Stevens would be paralyzed.  Unsteady footsteps can be heard and a person shows up in Gail’s vision, blocking one of the headlights. Slowly, the person’s face becomes visible.  Turns out it’s a young man, blonde and well dressed, and he slowly squats down next to her. _

 

_ “Shit.  Shit.  Ed?” _

 

_ He starts to shakes Gail a little, but she couldn’t move at all.   _

 

_ “Fuck…this is not happening. This can’t be happening to me.  I’m so fucked!” _

 

_    He gets up and clumsily walks back and forth in a not so straight line.  He mutters to himself and Gail can’t catch what he is saying.  She starts to memorize his physical appearance.  Blonde.  Well-dressed… wait isn’t that the coat that covered Edward Stevens when they found him?  He goes around her, picks up her arms, and start dragging her.  The body Gail is stuck in is getting colder and colder.  Her vision is getting woozy and she can’t tell if it’s from the alcohol in the system or concussion from the hit.   _

 

_    Finally, he stops dragging her and she observes her surroundings.  Dumpster to her right.  This is where they found Edward, so clearly this is where he left him to die.  He kneels by and covers his face with his hands.  Gail could hear muffled sobs coming out of his mouth.   _

 

_ “Ed… I’m so sorry.  I never meant to hit you.  What the fuck were you doing wandering around here?  I thought you were heading for home…Fuck.” _

 

_ He takes out a cellphone and dials a number.   _

 

_ “Father? It’s me, Liam.  I really fucked up this time… I just hit someone and I don’t know what to do.  I’m pretty sure he’s dead… I can’t go to prison!” _

 

_    Great, a rich boy calling his dad to fix his problem.  She spends next several minutes listening to Liam cry and sniffle.  She wonders what Edward was thinking while being stuck in a body that won’t move.  No wonder Liam is thinking he’s dead.  Liam hangs up his phone and wipes his face dry.  He is about to get up and leave, but hesitates.  He takes off his coat and covers Gail.  She can hear him talking,  “I never mean any of this.  I’m sorry.  I just can’t.” _

 

_ Liam slowly gets up and heads back to his Porsche and drives away, leaving them in darkness.   _

 

_    Gail realizes Edward was alive for a while before bleeding out to death.  Shit, that means she’s stuck in the broken body, waiting for the end to comes so she can wake up in reality.  She mentally sigh and wonders what to do while waiting.  It’s an odd feeling.  Waiting to die.  It’s not her first time nor will it be her last.  Still can’t get used to the sensation though.  She is not really a believer, but she still hopes that there is a place people go to once they die.  She doesn’t want to think about the other option… waiting so long to die then just nothing. _

 

_    It’s unclear how long it has been since Liam left.  Could be hours.  Could be just five minutes.  It makes no difference at the moment.  Time feels still and Gail hates every single minute of it.  It makes her feels compelled to think about things she doesn’t want to think about.  More like people.   _

  
  


_ Okay, a person.   _

  
  


_ Gail can feel the freezing fingers of death crawling all over her arms and neck. _

  
  


_ A particular glasses wearing brunette. _

  
  


_ Heartbeat slowly fade… _

  
  


_ Holly… last thing on Gail’s mind before she disappears. _

  
  
  



	6. Chapter VI:Burst

Clusters of conversations float around the station, poking through Gail’s ears.  She grimaces each time her head throbs in pain.  Two nights of death dreams in row are taking a toll on her body and especially her mind.  She got the killer’s face and his first name, so she supposes it is worth it.   It’s crucial for her to find his identity and solve the case, so she can crash in her bed and get some decent sleep.  She catches a rookie wandering aimlessly in the hallway and grabs his shoulder.  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
The rookie mutters, “I’m Duncan Moore.”  
  
“Okay, Gerald.  Go and make me a cup of coffee. Black with one sugar.  I want it in my hands five minutes ago.”  
  
Gail marches to Traci’s desk without looking back.  Technically, it’s theirs now.  There’s no open desk for Gail in the station at the moment.  Not as if she needs the space anyway.  She drops on the chair and puts her head on the desk.  Stupid headache is killing her mood.  Her mood isn’t that great in first place since it’s the morning.  That idiot better be in the break room making the damn coffee by now.    
  
Gail can hear footsteps approaching her.  She looks up, expecting to see a cup of coffee, but none to be seen.  Instead, she sees Traci smiling at her.  
  
“Good morning, Gail.”  
  
Gail scowls, “Morning.  Where is that fool?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Pretty sure his name is Gerald.”  
  
Track takes a minute to go through her mental list of the rookies before she asks, “Gerald? I don’t recall any Gerald in this station.”  
  
Duncan stumbles behind Traci and nearly spills the coffee on her.  Gail gets up and glares at him.  
  
“Watch where you’re going, Gerald!”  
  
Duncan clumsily moves around Traci to put the coffee on the desk.  He stutters, “I-I’m.  I’m sorry!”  
  
Gail continues to stare at Gerald, making him squirm for a minute, then picks up her coffee and swallows a small sip.   Traci follows her gut and gives Gail a minute of silence.  Her raccoon eyes and extra prickly attitude are clear indications of sleep deprivation.  Duncan awkwardly stands next to Traci and pulls out his cellphone to check his social media accounts.    
  
Gail sneers, “Gerald… what are you doing?”  
  
Duncan casually answers, “Oh I’m tweeting about how boring it is being here.  I can’t go on patrol, because McNally can’t take a joke, man.”  
  
Gail doesn’t understand a thing he just said.  Tweet? As in birds tweeting?  
  
“I have no idea what you just said.”  
  
Duncan’s eyes pop open as if a light bulb goes on in his head.    
  
“Wait! Let’s take a selfie together. That would be amazing.  My friends will be so jealous of me working with two hot gets!”  
  
Duncan attempts to gather Gail and Traci and squeezes himself between them. Gail slithers out of Duncan’s grasp and yells,  “Hey! Hey! Don’t touch me!”  
  
Duncan holds his hands up in surrender mode.  Traci gets herself in the middle and gently pushes Duncan away.  
  
“Duncan, why don’t you go see if Oliver needs any help in the evidence room?”  
  
Duncan nods and scurries out to the evidence room.  Gail sits back on the chair and takes another sip of the coffee.  She groans because the coffee is lukewarm already.  Traci remains quiet and leans against the desk.  Traci recalls yesterday when they first met and Gail refused to shake her hand.  She wonders if there’s a certain reason behind Gail’s aversion to physical touch.  She hates to assume, but she hopes it’s not something traumatic like she has seen in old cases.    
  
“You okay?”  
  
Gail ignores the question and complains, “God, this coffee is crap.”  
  
She chugs rest of the coffee from the cup and asks, “Do you have the file?”  
  
Traci understands Gail wants to keep it professional so she lets it go and gets the file out from the file cabinet under the desk.  Gail gets up and joins Traci to head over to an empty table against a wall.  Traci spreads out the reports, notes, and photos all over the table.  They are somewhat organized with the crime scene photos in the middle and the documents in piles based on how they are connected to the scene.    
  
“Alright, let’s review.”    
  
Traci agrees and points at a photo of Edward Stevens.    
  
“Edward Stevens, twenty one, and a student at George Brown College.  Nursing program.  He lives in an apartment with a roommate, Brian Schiller, couple blocks from the crime scene.”  
  
“Witnesses report seeing him at Lux bar, around the corner, from 9:30PM until little after 2AM, which fits our timetable.  The bartender remembers another young guy getting a pitcher of beer with the victim, but doesn’t know if they were with anyone else,” Gail adds.  
  
“Yeah, I bet we could get the bartender to confirm if we have a photo of the suspect once we find some leads.”  
  
Gail nods and point at a note with the victim’s address and roommate information.  “I have a feeling we may find one if we talk to the roommate.”  
  


* * *

  
  
The detectives stand in front of Edward Steven’s apartment door and Gail knocks.  They have to wait a good five minutes with a round of knocks in between before someone answers the door.  A blonde matted head peeks through the opening.  Brian Schiller groggily asks, “Who are you?”  
  
He is only wearing a red and white polka dots boxer with white tank top.  His eyes are dragged with heavy bags barely staying open.  Traci and Gail looks at each other before taking out their badges to show him.  
  
Traci speaks for both, “I’m Detective Nash and this is Detective Peck.”  
  
His eyes pop for a second before looking down.  “Oh, you’re here for… Okay, come in.”  
  
He opens the door wider and let the women enter and apologizes, “I’m sorry I was sleeping.  Let me get some pants on.”  
  
While Brian gets himself dressed, Gail takes a walk around the living room and observes her surroundings.  Two mismatched old couches facing a television on a shoddy stand and a worn out coffee table in the middle.   Couple of beer cans are cluttered on the table along with empty snack bags.  Gail is very grateful she is wearing jeans and her leather jacket so she can avoid direct contact with the couch.  She doesn’t want to think what happened on it or when was the last time it got cleaned.  Brian comes back wearing jeans and white shirt and asks them to take a seat on the couch.    
  
Traci decides to take the initiative and apologizes, “We apologize for disturbing your sleep.  We have some questions we would like to ask you about Edward.”  
  
“Yeah,  I figured that when you showed me your badges.  Um, I’m not sure how I can be much of help.  We’re roommates, but we aren’t that close.”  
  
“How did you meet him?”  
  
“We met last summer in a class.  He was looking for a place to live and needed something cheap.  I started my rotation this semester so I won’t be home much.  I offered him half of my bedroom and we split the rent evenly.”  
  
“When’s last time you saw him?”  
  
“Yesterday, I came in to eat dinner and study before going back for another shift.  He was on his way out to Lux for drinks.  Said he was meeting a dude he tutored to celebrate something.  A test grade I think.  I don’t know.”  
  
Gail asks, “He tutors? Is that something he’s been doing besides school?”  
  
“Yeah.  That’s how he makes his living.  He’s been tutoring rich kids at U of T.  Mostly law students.  He said the law kids tend to come from rich families and won’t know the difference between $10 or $100 per hour.”  
  
Smart kid, Gail thinks to herself.  
  
Traci asks, “Do you happen to know name of the guy he was meeting last night?”  
  
Brian shakes his head.  
  
Gail inquires, “Do you know if he keeps any records of the students he tutors?”  
  
Brian points at the bedroom.  “Probably on his laptop in the bedroom.”  
  
“May we take a look in the room? See if we find anything we may need.”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
They all get up and the women follow Brain to the bedroom.  He points them to Edward’s half of the room.  
  
“His laptop probably is either in his backpack on the desk there, or under the bed.  Feel free to look around.  I’ll be on the couch.”  
  
Both women nod in gratitude as Brain leaves the room.  Gail signals her intention to search the desk and heads over.  Traci walks to the bed and kneels down to search under the bed.  Gail decides to survey the desk before opening the backpack, and notices a big notepad with a giant headline, “REMINDER.”  
  
 One of the bullet points just so happens to mention, “Meet Liam @ Lux Th 10PM.”  
  
Bingo.  
  
Gail picks up the notepad and holds on to it while she starts searching the backpack.   Sciencey textbooks.  She bets Holly read something like those textbooks in college.  She wonders what she was like back then.  Since Holly is a genius, she probably spent most of her time in library and acing exams like the boss she is.  Holly’s pretty young so it’s likely she graduated earlier than usual.  Hell, she even lived in India for a bit.  Why did she comes back then?  
  
“Gail! I found it!”  
  
Gail walks over to Traci’s side and Traci shows her Edward’s laptop in her hands.  Gail smirks and hold the notepad in front of Traci’s face.  
  
“Look at what I found.”  
  
“Nice find.  We need to figure out who this Liam guy is.  See what he has to say.”  
  
Gail nods and is about to ask Traci how she want to proceed, but her cellphone rings.  
  
“Detective Peck.”  
  
A throaty voice purrs, “Hey Gail, it’s Holly… um Dr. Stewart from the lab.”  
  
Gail’s mind goes blank.  Not even a minute ago, she had been thinking about the owner of the voice coming out of her cellphone.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
An awkward moment of silence.  
  
“Um,  I just wanted to tell you that the results are in.”  
  
“Isn’ that what the couriers are for? Don’t they usually deliver the results?”  
  
Holly mutters, “He’s.. Um.. He’s sick or something.”  
  
There’s not an ounce of Gail’s being that actually believes that. She decides to let it go and asks, “Can you hold for a second?”  
  
She covers the receiver end with her hand and asks, “Traci? What do you want to do now?”  
  
“Well, we need to get in touch with U of T to get the list of law students and see if there’s any with Liam as a name.”  
  
“Alright, can you take care of that? The lab results are in, so I’m gonna head over to the lab and take a look.”  
  
Traci nods and smirks.  “Looking forward to seeing her?”  
  
“What?”  
  
Traci shrugs.  “You seem to like Dr. Stewart.  She’s such a nice lady.”  
  
“No, I don’t. She’s such a nerd.  I just want to read the results and that’s my thing.  I hate people, so you’re better off dealing with the admin snobs.”  
  
Traci chuckles.  “Okay, whatever you say, Gail.  I’ll call you later and we can meet up back at the station and review what we’ve learned.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Holly paces back and forth in her office.  God, why did she call Gail instead of following the typical protocol?  She is well aware Hiran, the courier, is available and ready to go at any time in the lobby area.  She could just pass along the file and move on to the next case.  She rationalizes that she needs to explain some certain things in the file.  Some terminology Gail might not understand or possibilities that come with some results.  Gail will need Holly’s expertise to explain some theories she has.  Nothing to do with seeing Gail in person.  She even ignores the time she caught Gail doing something odd with the victim’s body.  Must be a weird detective quirk that help her solves the case somehow.    
  
Earlier, Gail told her she will stop by, but didn’t specify when exactly.  Holly decides to do some work for her diatoms research, so she puts on her lab coat and latex gloves then brings out some bones and start measuring them.  Her mind begin to relax and forgets about her inner worries.  By the time she completes the measurements of the first bone, she is already focused fully on her work.  A familiar tune from her India days fills her head, so her hips unconsciously begin to sway along with the beat.  Eventually she starts to hum along and a little smirk grows along her left cheek.  
  
Outside the door to the lab, Gail looks down at her shoes and contemplates how she should make her entrance.  Just go in and get down to business strictly like a professional?  She looks suddenly at her phone and notices it’s almost lunchtime.  Is it appropriate to ask Holly if she wants to grab lunch with her like they did the other day?  She smiles in reminiscence.  She doesn’t think she can eat lunch without thinking of that day.    
  
Okay, that’s enough.  She pushes the feelings back deep inside and pulls the door open.  She puts on her game face and struts through and the sight of Holly immediately makes her freeze.  
  
Holly is still humming and swaying along to the song in her head.  Her lab coat covers a lot, but she has never looked so beautiful before.  It’s like she is in her own world, doing what she loves to do, and just being content at the moment.  Gail’s eyes widen and her bottom lip gets sucked behind her front top teeth.  Her right hand slowly crawls up to her chest, trying to hold in her heart, which feels like it’s going to burst out of her chest.  She stays still in her position and can’t risk moving a muscle in fear or alerting Holly to her presence.    
  
Gail has no idea how long she has been standing in front of the door.  Could be thirty seconds or half an hour for all she knows.  She doesn’t care though.  She will take all time she can.    
  
There’s no chance in hell Gail would pursue anything further than a professional relationship with Holly.  Maybe a superficial friendship but that’s pushing it.  She cannot afford to let anyone in.  Not with her burden shadowing her everywhere and death’s close grasp always nearby.    
  
Holly takes a spin around and Gail comes in her eye range.  She drops her measuring instrument and yelps, “Shit! You scared me.”  
  
Gail mourns the death of the quiet moment (or was it more of a session?) and takes a step further.  
  
“Sorry.  Didn’t want to interrupt your dancing.”  
  
Holly laughs and bends over to pick up the instrument.  “Ha, how long have you been standing there?”  
  
Gail has no idea but she isn’t going to admit that.  “Not long.  Just got here.  You’re more than welcome to continue.”  
  
“Maybe some other time if you’re lucky.  Go ahead and make yourself at home in my office.  I’m just going to put these away.”  
  
Gail swallows air before entering Holly’s office without a word.  Once she closes the door, she takes a deep breath in her feeble attempt to calm herself down.  Holly isn’t making this easy for her is she?  
  
On the other side of the door Holly leans back on the exam table and hold on like her life is depending on it.    
  
Both of their hearts are bursting.    
  
  



	7. Chapter VII:Connections

The door creaks as Holly pushes it open and walks in her office.  Gail is sitting on the visitor chair and rubbing her forehead like she is in pain.  Holly can see the heavy bags under Gail’s eyes.  She looks beyond exhausted.  Is it the case that is bothering her?  Or is it something else?  Something to do with her odd behavior yesterday? Holly isn’t sure, but one thing she knows for sure is she wants Gail to feel better.

 

“You okay? You look like you might need some acetaminophen. I have some in the drawer.”

 

Gail looks up and shakes her head.  “No. I’m fine.  Just tired.”

 

Holly decides to stand in front of Gail, between the chair and desk and lean against the desk.  She reaches over to touch Gail’s forehead.  She wants to relieves the pain with her touch.  Before she could make a contact, Gail abruptly stands up and dodges Holly’s reach.  Gail notices the lab results on Holly’s desk and grabs the file.

 

“Is this the file with lab results?”

 

Holly pulls her hand back to her side and sighs.  She knows Gail is deliberately avoiding physical contact.  She decides to let it go since it isn’t her place to say something.  They’ve only known each other for a couple days, so she plays along.

 

“Yeah, that’s it.  Want to sit down and talk about it?”

 

“No. I need to meet with Detective Nash and go over stuff.  I’ll call you if we have any questions though.”

 

Gail blurts it out and heads for the door without waiting for Holly’s response. Holly internally panics and tries to come up with something to say.  To keep Gail in her presence even if it’s just a second longer.  

 

“Wait.”

 

Gail stops with her hand on the door handle. Holly waits until Gail’s eyes connect with hers.

 

Gail whispers, “Yeah?”

 

“I-uh… Just so you know, you don’t have to call me just for work.  I figure we could be friends.  I go out with Traci for drinks occasionally, so maybe we all can get together after work.  I know we had a bad start, but we agreed to a fresh start yesterday, right?  So..”

 

Gail stares at Holly.  For some reason Holly’s blabbing is turning Gail on.  This feels like deja vu.  She wants to taste Holly’s lips again.  Well, without the worm this time.  The strong desire begins to cloud Gail’s thought process.  She subconsciously licks her bottom lip.

 

Holly easily catches what Gail is doing with her lip and her yearning stare takes Holly’s breath away.  Gail’s eyes permit Holly access to look in her soul and Holly could swear she felt warmth pouring out.  The stare off lasted mere seconds, but it felt like lifetime to both of them.  

 

Gail breaks their intense connection and ends whatever is happening between them.

 

“Sure.  Maybe after we close this case.”

 

Holly looks down at the floor in defeat and nods as Gail leaves.  After the door closes, Holly heads over to her chair behind the desk and slumps down.  Gail’s behavior is puzzling her and she’s becoming even more sure something is going on with Gail.  Could Gail be what Holly is too?  She is afraid what it means if her suspicion is correct.  

 

* * *

 

A Miles Davis tune floats from a radio app on Traci’s phone and she sways along to the beat while going over her notes on her desk.  A file gets thrown on her desk, scaring the shit out of her. Track abruptly looks up to see Gail standing in front of her with a scowl on her face.

 

“Shit, Gail.  You scared me.”

 

Gail shrugs and pulls a chair to sit next to Traci and lets out a sigh of frustration.  Traci notices fatigue pulling down Gail’s face. She turns off the radio app on her phone and gives Gail her full attention.

 

“You alright?”

 

Gail keeps her Peck mask on.  “I’m fine.  Let’s focus on the case.  I got the results from H.. Dr. Stewart.”

 

“Okay.  What did she say?”

 

Gail realizes she never really discussed with Holly about the details because she couldn’t handle being in that small office with Holly without feeling like her chest would explode.  

 

“We didn’t get a chance to talk about it.”

 

“Oh, why not?”

 

Gail spout the first thing on her mind.  “Nude.”

 

Traci takes a double look at Gail and cautiously asks, “What?”

 

Shit that isn’t what Gail wanted to say.  She shakes Holly out of her mind and gets in professional mode.

 

“I mean there was a naked body on the table, so I guess she was busy with that.  I just took the file and left.”

 

Traci squints her eyes in doubt but lets it go.  “Alright.  We can go over that after my notes.”

 

Gail nods and Traci moves the lab results to a corner.  

 

“Okay.  I got the list from admin at U of T.  Luckily for us there’s only one law student with the first name Liam.  Liam Sollors.  Even more fortunate for us is he has a Porsche Cayenne registered in their system for a parking permit.”

 

“Bingo.”

 

“Right.  I think we have enough to make an arrest and we can go from there.”

 

“Great.  We can also ask Dov to check the kid’s phone for the victim’s number from the flyer.”

 

“Plus we have that bartender willing to verify if we show him a photo.”

 

“Speaking of Dov, has he checked the laptop yet?

 

“Still working on it with the IT people.  Said might take a while.”

 

Traci takes the results file over and open to front page.  “Look, there’s fingerprints but no match on the system.  We can check and see if this Liam Sollors is a match.”

 

Gail gets up quickly.  “Let’s go and get this bastard.”

 

* * *

 

The metal handcuffs press against Liam’s wrists and he struggles to make them looser.  He gives up eventually and looks around the interrogation room.  Both Gail and Traci look at him from behind the two way mirror.  

 

Gail chuckles,  “He’s getting antsy.  Definitely nervous about being here.  All we need is either a confession from him or have him touch a cup of water and we got him.”

 

Traci smirks.  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Peck.  We should go in and see what he has to say before his lawyer arrives.  Duncan is making the call, but I told him to take his time.”

 

“Duncan?”

 

“Yeah, that kid you yelled at.”

 

“Oh. I’ve been calling him Gerald.”

 

“I know.  Come on.”

 

Traci picks up the case file and they head to the interrogation.  Once they enter, Liam straightens his back and glares at both of them with disdain.  

 

“I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

Gail retorts, “In your opinion?  Because in eye of the law, you did.”

 

Liam scoffs.  “I didn’t break any law.  I’m not saying anything until my lawyer is here.”

 

Traci says,  “Your lawyer is on way.  Don’t worry.  We just want to get started and ask you some basic questions.  Nothing you should be concerned with if you are indeed innocent.”

 

“At least take off the damn cuffs.  I’m not a fucking criminal.  I ought to sue you all for cruelty against me.”

 

Gail stares at Liam hard and spits out each word with authority.  “We will take it off when we feel it is appropriate.  The more you fight us, the worse you make yourself look.”

 

Traci takes over.  “Look, we just want to know what happened to Edward Stevens.  Someone killed him and we just need to know what happened that night.  Can you tell us if you saw him that night?”

 

Liam admits, “Yeah, we met up at Lux to celebrate a bit.  I aced my Bio exam and I wanted to thank him.  He has… had been helping me a lot.  I couldn’t risk failing the class and get suspended.”  

 

“What time did you meet him and did you leave at same time?”

 

“Um it was probably around ten.  We stayed till last call, but I had to take a piss before leaving, so he left before I did.  No idea where he went.”

 

“And where did you go when you left?”

 

“Home.”

 

“How?”

 

Liam uncertainly adjusts himself on the seat before answering.  “I drove home.  I wasn’t drunk okay!? I didn’t drink that much honestly.”

 

Gail smirks and Traci raises her hands.  “Relax.  Just questions.  So, how did you get home? Can you tell me directions?”

 

Liam begins to bounce his leg a little.  “I don’t know.  I just followed the GPS on my phone.  I don’t really pay attention to where I’m going as long as I get there.”

 

Too easy, Gail thinks to herself.  Soon, they will be able to catch him.  

 

The door opens and Chris enters with a glass of water and puts it on the table then leaves without a word.  He has a latex glove on, but Liam doesn’t seems to notice.  Next step is a go.  

 

Gail speaks up.  “Alright, here’s your glass of water. You’re looking thirsty.”

 

Liam momentarily looks at the glass before saying, “Thanks.  My throat’s dry as hell.”

 

He’s about to reach for the glass before the door open again.  Duncan’s head pokes in and he looks really nervous.

 

Gail scowls,  “What is it this time?”

 

“Um.  I don’t know how she knows already since I just left a message not a minute ago but-“

 

Duncan gets pushed back and a glasses wearing brunette in business suit walks in.

 

“Liam, don’t say anything and don’t touch anything.”

 

She walks to Liam’s seat and puts her hand on his shoulder.

 

“I’m Delma Stewart, his lawyer and I am here to take him home.”

 

Gail stands up.  “Like hell I’m gonna let you!  He’s under arrest for a murder.”

 

“With what evidence?”

 

Traci stands up as well.  “We have enough to suspect him.”

 

Delma sigh and slowly takes off her glasses.  She make sure to stare in both of detectives’ eyes just long enough before she continues.

 

“I am sure you have plenty of evidence to find the killer.  However, it’s all circumstantial.  Do you have any video or photograph of him being at the scene?  I don’t think so.   You both rushed and suspected the first person who had any connection with the victim, didn’t you?  Can you both be absolutely sure you have the right person?  I don’t think so.  I am telling you both.  He is not the killer.  Please take off the handcuffs and let him go.”

 

Gail feels confused and a cloud of doubt creeps in her mind.  She cannot think of any damning proof that directly connected Liam to the murder.  Her thoughts are not clear and she begins to think this lawyer might be right. Maybe they really did rush too much into this case.  She looks at Traci and she can see uncertainty on her face. Traci slowly shakes her head and walks over to Liam and unlocks the handcuffs.

 

“We apologize for our mistake, Liam.  You’re free to go.”

 

Liam slowly gets up and smile at Delma and cockily walks out of the room.  Delma follows after him but pauses to ask,  “Detectives, what are your name?”

 

Traci speaks for both.  “I’m Detective Nash and this is Detective Peck.”

 

Delma glares at Gail for a moment before leaving the room.  

 

Traci remains quiet and shakes her head before leaving the room, leaving Gail alone.

 

What the fuck just happened? Gail is not sure what the answer is.  The cloud dissipates away in her head and she slowly realizes that they might’ve gotten duped.  She recognizes the aura surrounding the lawyer and what she just pulled over them.  Feyian.  Gail is absolutely sure that this lawyer is a Feyian.  She cannot let her get away with this.  She’s about to rush out of the room and go after her, but the door opens and Elaine Peck walks in.

 

“Mother.  Get out of my way.  I need to catch that lawyer!”

 

Eliane puts up one of her hands and presses it against Gail’s chest.  “I don’t think so.”

 

“I have to go! I need to catch Liam and her so I can bring this case to closure.”

 

“You are going to close this case.  Unsolved.”

 

Gail stares at her mother in bewilderment.  “What?”

 

“That boy, Liam Sollors, is one of us technically.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about? He’s no Feyian.”

 

“He is partially.  His father is John Ward, the head of Ward and Stewart.  He’s a Feyian and a member of our clan.”

 

“Are you telling me he’s not purebred? Isn’t that illegal?”

 

“It’s illegal for a Feyian to marry a human, but affairs are common and we tend to overlook that.  Liam is an unfortunate outcome of one of Ward’s affairs.”

 

“Okay, so what? He still killed someone.  I have to bring him in.”

 

Gail tries again to leave, but Elaine stops her again.

 

“I don’t think so, honey.  We cannot afford to have Liam arrested and bring too much attention to Ward.  We cannot risk any kind of exposure to our people.  You know that, Gail.”

 

“It’s still wrong!”

 

“Our people still come first.  That’s why I put you here.  To make sure our existence never becomes a public knowledge.”

 

Elaine puts her hands directly on Gail’s cheek and asks, “You are going to drop this and close the case without trouble, right Gail?”

 

Gail swallows her anger.  She knows she cannot lie to her mother now.  Especially when she already got her hand on Gail.  She lets out a frustrated sigh.  “Fine.  I’ll close the damn case.”

 

Elaine takes her hands away and says,  “Thank you, Gail.  You did the right thing for us.  I’m proud of you.”

 

Gail sneers,  “Then why do I feel like a hypocrite?  I didn’t do the right thing….”

 

She walks out before Elaine can say anything further.   Elaine Peck sighs and takes out her cellphone to call a number.

 

“John, everything is taken care of.  You have nothing to be concerned about.”

  
  



	8. Chapter VIII:Revelations

“Mother?”

 

Elaine looks up from her desk to see Steve leaning against her office door.

 

“Come in.  Close the door.”

 

Steve knows that means serious business.  He briefly fixes his tie and takes his seat in front of Elaine with the desk in between them.  Elaine takes her time putting together a file, while Steve tries his best not to show any sign of fidgeting.  Pecks don’t do that.  He remembers his father’s threats every time he moved when he was a young boy.  

 

“Alright, Steve. I have a new assignment for you.”

 

Elaine hands the file to Steve and he opens it to take a look.   There is a photo of Liam Sollors and an older woman with a weary face.  They seem to be having an argument in the living room of an apartment.  It’s as if someone took the photo from outside a window.  Steve takes out the photo so he can read the rest of the report.

 

“Huh? Surveillance on a single mother and son, who is in college?  Not exactly in my area of expertise.”

 

“I know they are not gang related, but unfortunately they are affiliated with our people.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“That boy is Ward’s child.  We had a man keeping an eye on them, but he failed miserably when that boy accidentally killed someone.   We need someone to take over and keep a closer eye on the both of them.  Make sure they will not reveal anything to the wrong kind of people.  Our existence must not be known to the public.”

 

“Babysitting… got it.  Do I get a partner or do I have to find a way to watch both of them?  I may be a Feyian, but I don’t exactly have the ability to be in two places at once…”

 

“Judith Sollors is basically a shut-in.  The affair with Mr. Ward ended badly, so she became an alcoholic and stays home all the time.  You should be more concerned about the boy rather than her.”

 

Steve sighs.  “This is beyond messy.  Why would Mr. Ward get himself involved with a mere human?  If he’s going to have an affair, then at least pick a female Feyian…”

 

“It’s none of our business.  Since this is an affair, not marriage, there’s nothing we can do about it.  All we can do is keep an eye on them and make sure they keep their mouth shut.  Can you do that?”

 

Steve nods and asks,  “May I have permission to leave, Mother?”

 

Elaine gives him permission with a silent nod.  Steve gets up and leaves with the folder in his hand.   Elaine puts up both of her hands on her temples and attempts to massage out her headache.   She is unaware of an item stuck at the bottom of her desk that definitely doesn’t belong.  

 

The phone rings and she picks up.

 

“Peck… Yes, it’s being taken care of.  Do not be concerned.  I have someone way better assigned to keep an eye…. Yes….”

 

The bug transmits Elaine’s conversation all the way to a computer on Delma’s laptop in her office.  Through headphones she listens to everything going on in Elaine Peck’s office.  

 

“This is going to be very useful…” Delma whispers to herself.  

 

* * *

 

Waves of golden liquid swirl against the wall of the shot glass in Gail’s hand.  She stares at the bubbles rising through the tequila to escape into the air.  How she wishes she could be like a bubble right now.  It is all too much.  Hiding her true self from her partner, coworkers, strangers, even her family doesn’t get to see her entire self either.  The struggle of being loyal to her people and doing her job properly.  Right now, she feels like a mere pawn on the chessboard.  The thought of drowning herself in tequila is becoming more appealing, so she swallows the shot.

 

“Another?”

 

Gail looks up to see Alex standing behind the counter with a bottle of her favorite poison, and gives out an affirmative grunt.  Alex refills the glass and Gail inhales the shot before they are able to put the bottle back in the rack.

 

Alex decides to play as a counselor and asks, “Shit day?”

 

Gail scowls, “More like a shitty week.”  

 

“Ah. New job dragging you down?”

 

In more than one way.  “That and family politics.  You know how it is.  Peck the royal family, and I gotta make them look good regardless of my feelings.”

 

Alex nods in understanding.  They never met any of Gail’s family throughout their friendship, but Gail often confides into them about her frustrations.  They wonders if there’s something else bothering her.  They recall the brunette Gail met the other night and wonders how that went for both of them.  

 

“Whatever happened to that hot brunette you met the other night?” Alex asks while cleaning the glasses.  Gail quietly shrugs, so Alex figures their meeting didn’t end so well.

 

“Bad personality? Crazy ex?”

 

“No. She actually was great that night.  I screwed it up all on my own.”

 

“Ah you asked for a fuck didn’t you?”

 

Gail groans and asks, “Another? Please?”

 

Alex chuckles before pouring Gail another shot.  

 

“Someday you got to let someone in your heart.  Everyone deserves a chance to be happy.  Even you, Gail.”

 

Gail stares at Alex and takes her shot without losing eye contact.  “I’m perfectly happy with Jose, thank you very much.”

 

“Thought you ain’t into boys anymore?”

 

“I never said it’s romantic or sexual thing.”

 

“Well, speaking of that.  Someone’s here for you.”

 

Gail becomes puzzled as Alex points their head at the direction of Holly approaching from behind.  Gail notices her and tap on the counter for yet another shot.  Alex lets out a sigh before pouring again.  “Gail, last one.  I’m serious.”

 

Holly takes the empty seat next to Gail.  “I’ll have a Jack and Coke, please.”

 

“Coming up.”

 

Alex takes their leave and Holly watch Gail brood and swirl her shot glass.

 

“So, what are you doing here, Holly?”

 

“Traci called me.  Told me you might be in a rotten mood and she wasn’t able to find you.  She has to stay home with Leo, so she couldn’t go out to look for you.”

 

Gail looks at Holly. “Leo?”

 

“Yeah, her eight year old son.”

 

Gail feels embarrassed and looks away.  “Oh.”

 

Gail had no idea about Traci’s son.  Hell, she knows nothing about Traci outside of their professional relationship.  She knows she is responsible for that because she has been busy with keeping herself distanced from everyone around her that is not Feyian.  Not that it really matters.  She really just avoids everyone.  It’s a lonely existence.

 

“Here you go.” Alex places Holly’s drink and leaves them alone again. They have a feeling that the women need some privacy to really talk.  They maintain to keep the other customers away with their charming ability.

 

Holly takes a sip to give herself some time.  However, Gail beats her by asking, “How did you know I’ll be here?”

 

“Well, if I had a shitty day like you did at work, I would avoid places where I could bump into people from work.  Plus, this is the only place I’ve met you outside of work.  I just got lucky like that.”

 

Gail recalls the night they met with regret.  “I was awful that night, huh?”

 

Holly smirks a little.  “Yeah you were a little bit.  I kind of understand now though.”

 

Gail doesn’t think Holly could ever truly understand, but something tells her that Holly might know more than what she’s giving out.  She takes a good look at Holly and Holly feels nervous under her stare.

 

“So… the suspect didn’t turn out?”

 

Gail continues to stare at her.  

 

_ I’m Delma Stewart, his lawyer and I am here to take him home. _

 

That has to be a coincidence right? Stewart is probably one of the most common surnames in North America.  There’s got to be hundreds of people with that last name in Toronto alone.  

 

_ Try a lawyer. _

 

Holly’s once whimsical remark has now becomes haunting.  Gail knows for sure Delma is a Feyian, so what does that mean for Holly?  If they are indeed related.  She closes her eyes and recollects the imagery of the photo Holly has on her desk of her sister and herself.  The lighter brown hair is just the same.  Her face looks older now with some wrinkles and the warmth isn’t there. Gail slowly opens her eyes and sees Holly looking back with a questioning expression.  As much as Gail wants to deny the connections, she has to ask so she does.

 

“Is your sister’s name Delma?”

 

Holly blinks in surprise.  “Yes. How’d you know?”

 

Gail scoffs.  “Right.  Play the clueless sister, why don’t you?  Your sister’s the one who fucked up my case.  Our suspect is her client.  Did you feed her any information?  You know I could arrest you for obstruction of justice!”

 

“I didn’t know! Look—“

 

Gail continues her fit.  “And what the hell does this mean?  Does this mean you are what I think you are?! A Fe-“

 

Holly wraps her hand against Gail’s mouth.  Gail struggles before Holly forces her to look at her eyes and whispers.  “Yes but we can’t talk about this here.  Not with the humans around.”

 

Alex appears in front of the women and asks, “Is everything okay, Gail? Is she bothering you?”

 

Holly quickly lets go of Gail.  “Sorry…”

 

Gail stands up quickly and asks, “Can we use a room upstairs for privacy? We need to talk.  Police business you know.”  

 

Alex looks at both of them with suspicion, but they trusts Gail without a question.  “Sure. Come through the kitchen and go up.”  

 

* * *

 

Gail barges through the door and leans against an empty dresser as if her life depends on it.  She cannot tell if it’s from the tequila or exhaustion.  She has not slept well obviously from having death dreams two nights in row.  Probably a mixture of both.  Holly cautiously takes a seat on the cot with a blanket and pillow already made.  

 

A couple of minutes pass, but it feels like hours to the both of them.  Yet, neither speak a word to each other.  Holly gives up and guardedly questions, “Gail? Are you okay?”

 

The question nearly lit a fuse in Gail’s head.  

 

“No.  I am not fucking okay with this… How long did you know I’m not just a human?”

 

“I wasn’t sure until now.  I can’t exactly ask you outright, can I?”

 

“Who are you really? How come I never heard of you or your sister before?”

 

Gail practically knows every single member of the Riordan clan her family belongs in.  Her parents make sure both Steve and she know all of the members at least by name and what role they play.  They used to play a game to compete and see who could name the most at various social functions they had to go.  None of the members have the surname Stewart though.  

 

Holly gets off the bed and approaches Gail.  

 

“I already told you who I am.  I’m Dr. Holly Stewart.”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

Holly is unsure what to reveal.  “If you mean which clan I belong to… that’s a bit complicated.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because there isn’t one anymore.  I already told you.  It’s just Delma and I.  We’re all we’ve got.”  

 

“I thought you meant that as family.”

 

“That too.  Almost the same thing really.”

 

Gail slowly ponders Holly’s answers and realizes that she doesn’t know Holly’s ability.  She knows Delma’s ability has something to do with her eyesight and spreading some kind of confusion or deceit.

 

“Why did you touch me? Are you trying to do something to me?”

 

Holly shakes her head.  “No.  I know you avoid being touched because of yours though.  You get some kind of dream from touching someone don’t you?”

 

“Great… you figured me out and you’re still not telling me anything.  I cannot even be sure if I can sleep in peace tonight because you just had to put your hand on my mouth.”  And not just for that reason.  Gail mentally slaps herself because she cannot think of Holly in that way.  At least not right now.  

 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t have a choice.”

 

Holly takes off her glasses and get closer to Gail.  She wants to console and reassures Gail that she doesn’t have any ulterior motive.  

 

All the exhaustion and anger overwhelms Gail and she snaps,  “Back off.  You’re just like your sister.  Taking off glasses and acting all innocent.  You want to get closer to me and put me under you spell.  Like a snake… What the hell are you doing to me?”

 

Before Holly could say anything, Gail runs out of the room and she walks back over to the bed and collapses.  This is not how she intended the night to go.  She wants to make sure Gail is okay, but she thinks she made things worse.  The only positive thing out of this disaster is that she knows for sure.  Gail is a Feyian.  That means Holly doesn’t have to be worried about the whole sticky Feyian-Human issue.   However, that brings up the complicated clan affiliation problem.  She needs to talk with Delma though and gets herself off the case.  She knows she cannot continue working on this case if her sister remains the lawyer for the suspect.  She takes out her cellphone to call Delma.

 

However her phone continues to ring, ring, and goes straight to voicemail.  

 

“Del, we really need to talk. “

 

* * *

 

Gail pulls out her cellphone and sees it’s from Oliver’s office.  She knows that if he calls from his office then it’s official business and she has to answer.  

 

“What is it?” Gail asks harshly.

 

“You’ve got to come down to the station.  It’s about the Edward Stevens case.”

 

Gail still wants to go back and apologize to Holly for her terrible words, but work has to take priority at the moment.

 

“Okay, I’m coming.  What is this about?”

 

“The suspect, Liam Sollors, is dead.”

 


	9. Chapter XI:Caramba

The engine purrs along with the heat seeping through the vents, and Gail could have fallen asleep right in her driver’s seat if she wasn’t waiting for Traci to arrive so they can go in the apartment building.   She probably should be going in already, but she needs a few moments to get herself together.  It’s been insane the last couple days since her first day at the 15th Division.  Every night she’s only gotten maybe two or three hours of sleep.  Having death dreams twice in row is taking a heavy toll on her, and she really wants to have a good night sleep tonight, but that is unlikely.  

 

The caffeine laden coffee reminds Gail that she better drink up to gain a little energy.  She needs all the help she can get to get through tonight.  Oliver is the one who gave her the coffee out of apology for sending her over to the crime scene.  The victim was her original suspect for Edward Stevens’ death, so this one is passed over to Traci and her.  

 

However, she’s surprised to see her brother in Oliver’s office earlier.  Steve admits to her that he was assigned by their mother to keep an eye on the boy and his mother.  The only thing is the boy was already dead when he showed up on his first shift.  He doesn’t notice anything wrong until he sees Ms. Sollors running out of the building, collapsing on the sidewalk, and sobbing her shattered heart out.   

 

Gail rubs the tension out of her temple and takes a large sip of her coffee.  A pair of headlights fly by and Gail notices Traci in the car parking next to her.  She quickly finishes her coffee and gets out of her car to walk over to Traci’s side.  Traci slowly gets out of her car and deeply sighs.

 

“Rough night?”

 

“Yeah, I had to wake up my son and take him over to my mother’s.  That did not go so well.”  

 

Gail remembers feeling bad about not knowing.   “I heard you have a kid from Holly.  Sorry for not knowing about that already.”

 

“Oh, it’s okay.  We just started working together.  It’s bound to come up sooner or later.”

 

“How old is he?”

 

“He’s ten.”

 

“I can help out with babysitting duty if you need it.”

 

Traci’s eyes widen in surprise.  “Really?”

 

Gail shrugs.  “Kids aren’t like people.  I like them better than adults.  I can kick his ass in video games, and teach him how to become a cool adult like me.”

 

Traci chuckles as if she is not surprised by Gail’s comment.  “Sure. Thanks.  Ready to go in?”

 

Gail nods and leads the way in the building.

 

* * *

 

“What the hell?”

 

Traci opens her mouth to respond to Gail, but couldn’t come up with words.  They are standing in front of a bed where Liam’s body lies.  The bed is king sized and covered with exquisite blue and white Egyptian cotton sheets.  Probably at least a thousand thread count and it looks like there’s some gold threads sown in the borders.  The blue blanket is thrown off the bed and most of the pillows are piled all over the wall opposite from the bed.  The scene seems like a typical murder scene, except for Liam’s appearance.

 

 The body is already in rigor mortis and in an almost fetus-like position with his back against the wooden headboard.  He is wearing a white undershirt and burgundy silk boxers.  One might think he was asleep when he died except for his right hand clutching his shirt right where his heart was and there was his face.   

 

His face showed a clear sign of something gone wrong with his death.  His eyes were wide open along with his mouth.  It’s as if he saw something horrific when he died.  

 

“I thought stuff like this only happened in movies.  A young man getting scared to death?  Did you see any drugs around? Maybe he snorted too much snow?”

 

Traci scans the nightstand next to the bed and the floor.  

 

“Nothing I can see without moving things around.  Better leave that to the forensic team.”

 

“You mean the minions.”

 

“Right.”

 

Gail walks in a linear path around the bed to take a closer look at the body.  She leans forward and an odd scent wavers under her nose.  

 

“I smell something.  What’s that smell?”

 

Traci joins Gail’s side and takes a sniff.  She steps back immediately once the smell hits her nose.

 

Traci grimaces.  “I don’t know. Smell very earthy.”

 

Gail nods in agreement.  “Yeah, smells like we are camping in the forest somewhere. Very earthy and musty.  Do you see dirt or anything like that anywhere?”

 

“No.  This room is pretty clean.”

 

“Maybe it's under the sheets?  When will the damn minions arrive?  Do you know if there’s another necromancer than Dr. Stewart?”

 

“Not at the moment.  She’s the only one we got in our area.  Speaking of her, did you see her earlier?  I called her after you left to see if she could find you.”

 

Gail stiffens as she recalls her fight with Holly earlier at Alex’s.  She knows she really messed it up this time.  Holly clearly has no idea about her sister’s involvement.  They work in completely different fields and it must’ve been a coincidence.  Despite Holly’s reassurances, there is something shady about Delma’s behaviors and Gail cannot put her finger to what exactly makes her suspicious.  That is not the main thing that worries Gail though.  Holly already touched her, so she needs to find a way to keep an eye on Holly for twenty four hours.  Life becomes more complicated every time Gail sees Holly and that really frustrates her.  

 

“Gail?”

 

Gail snaps out of her inner thoughts and shrugs.  “Oh, yeah she found me at a bar, but we didn’t talk much before Oliver called me.”

 

Traci gives her a puzzling look.  “How did she know where to find you?”

 

Gail realizes she never told Traci that she met Holly before the crime scene on her first day.

 

“Um, we sorta met already once at this bar.  Just a brief meeting and we agreed to act professional when we saw each other at the scene of our first victim.  No big deal.  She’s just lucky I went back to the same bar.”

 

“Was that night awkward?”

 

“Maybe I acted like a bitch, that’s all.  We worked it out pretty quickly so it’s fine.”

 

Traci accepts Gail’s answer without pushing for more information.  Gail is relieved she doesn’t have to explain anything further, because she doesn’t want to talk about the fight without revealing the secrets.  Traci is a nice woman and Gail likes working with her, but she is still a human after all.  She got to be careful about what she tells Traci and what to keep to herself.  

 

Bunch of voices scatter outside of the bedroom and the detectives turn their focus to the entryway where a team of forensic lackeys come in along with Holly.  Gail’s moment of relaxation is over and she freezes as her eyes lay on Holly.  She decides to be the big person and approach Holly to apologizes for her behavior earlier at Alex’s.  Holly puts up her hands in surrender and explains her presence.

 

“Look, I know how you are going to feel about me being here.  Don’t be concerned.  I won’t be taking samples or touch anything.  I’m just here to oversee the team and you can supervise me to be sure.  The replacement is coming and he will meet us at the morgue to take over.  He will conduct the autopsy and I won’t be involved in that.”  

 

Gail gets thrown off by Holly’s behavior and she is unsure how to respond.  Traci looks very confused and asks,  “Why can’t you be involved, Holly?”

 

Holly sigh and answers, “Potentially conflict of interest.  My sister is involved in this case.”

 

“How so?”

 

Gail answers for Holly.  “Remember that lawyer who pulled the rug from under us? Delma Stewart?”

 

Traci’s eyes widens in shock.  “Oh! Oh, okay.  I thought the last name thing is a coincidence since it’s pretty common.  Wow.”

 

Holly awkwardly adjusts her glasses and mutters.  “Yeah…  I’m going over there to make sure they are collecting enough samples.”

 

After Holly leaves, Traci elbows Gail in her side and gives her a look.  

 

“What the hell, Gail? Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Ow!” Gail rubs her side.  “I just found out when she found me earlier.  Didn’t exactly have time to tell you and honestly it slipped from my mind.”

 

“Well, anything else I should know?”

 

Gail stares directly at Traci and lies.  “No.  Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what I know when I find out things.  Just didn’t have a chance to tell you in time.”

 

Traci seems to believe in Gail and lets it go.  “Alright.  Do you want to join me to talk with Ms. Sollors and see what she knows, or do you prefer to keep an eye on Dr. Stewart and her team?”

 

Gail reaches behind her neck and scratch a nonexistent itch as a stalling tactic.  She really wants to talk with Holly and clear things then somehow find a way to keep an eye on her tonight.  However, she knows she must remains professional and join Traci to question Ms. Sollors.  She could read Ms. Sollors’ reactions while Traci talks with her.  She will find a way to talk with Holly later.

 

“I’ll go with you, Traci.  I want to hear Ms. Sollors’ story and see how she behaves.  This whole thing is weird already.  Plus, I do trust Holly to be honest.  Her sister is another story though.”

 

* * *

 

“He was studying law because he wanted to be like his father.  I never understood that.  John’s never around and we both were his dirty secrets.  Not well kept secret, but still.”

 

Gail knows who Ms. Sollors is speaking of, but Traci doesn’t so she asks, “John?”

 

Ms. Sollors is sitting on a loveseat across from Gail and Traci on a sectional couch.  She’s clearly intoxicated and likely not from just alcohol, but not beyond her capability to have conversation.  Gail notices tension on her face when Traci asks her about Liam’s father’s identity.

 

“Um… I mean John Ward.”

 

Traci writes down the name and continues.  “You said you both are his secrets. What do you mean by that?”

 

Ms. Sollors uncomfortably shifts to her other side.  “Well, he’s married and he has his own family.  I met him long time ago, and we had a brief thing.  I want to regret that, but I can’t.  He gave me my boy…” She starts to tear up.  “John took care of us.  Gave us plenty of money and security to live a comfortable life, but it wasn’t enough for Liam.  He wanted to know his father, but John didn’t want a relationship with him.”

 

“What does Mr. Ward do for living? Is he well known in Toronto?”

 

Gail know where Traci is going with her questions.  Traci clearly doesn’t know that Mr. Ward is John Ward, owner of Ward and Stewart firm, and one of the most prominent lawyers in Toronto.  She watches Ms. Sollors and notices how her hand slightly shakes and her throat bobbles as she swallows air out of nervousness.  Gail knows why she is nervous.  

 

Ms. Sollors is about to response, but the forensic team march out of the bedroom and distract her.  Holly follows the team out and Gail decides to excuse herself to go after Holly.  She will talk with Traci about rest of the interview later.  Finding out the cause of death is more important right now.  If it is a murder, then she will need to get an access to the body before it’s too late.  

 

* * *

 

The door to Holly’s lab is closed and Gail stands in front of it.  She has a cup of coffee in her hand for Holly and she hopes it can be considered a peace offering.  Earlier, Gail was able to talk with Holly briefly as the minions loaded the samples and the body in their transport vehicles.  Holly mentioned that cause of death was clear to her and definitely pointed toward a murder case, but she couldn’t talk about it in front of other people.  Gail suspected that it has something to do with Holly’s ability.  It makes sense to her why Holly is a forensic pathologist if her ability helps her with figuring out how people die.  Holly told her she could come, but to be careful because the other pathologist will perform the autopsy, not her.  The whole conversation was a little awkward, and Gail knows it’s mostly her fault for lashing out at her earlier.  

 

Time to face the music.  

 

Gail enters the lab to see Holly with a tall and middle aged man conversing.  She walks slowly and apologizes.  “Sorry to interrupt.  I’m just here to find out about Liam Sollors case.”

 

The man sigh in frustration.  “Look, the body just arrived, so you are not going to get any relevant findings for a while.  Why don’t you leave your number and one of us will call you when we reach conclusion?”

 

Gail squints her eyes.  “I’m here already, so I might as well watch and you can tell me what you find in real time.”

 

The man scoffs and Holly decides to intervene.  “This is Detective Gail Peck.  It is her style to be present for the autopsy and she has good knowledge for a detective.  This is Dr. Francois Redmond and he just flew in from Ottawa to help out with this case and the staff shortage here.”

 

Dr. Redmond looks down at Gail’s hand and asks, “Is that coffee for me? I appreciate it.”

 

He takes the coffee from Gail without waiting for her response and turns around.  Gail clenches her hand into a fist and lifts up as if she is about to punch him from the behind.  Holly notices and gives Gail a warning look with her head tilting to her left side.

 

“Dr. Redmond, why don’t you go in the office and finish the paperwork before you can get started on the autopsy?  You know how annoying all the red tape is.”  

 

Dr. Redmond chuckles and heads for the office. Holly follows slowly and turns around to give Gail a nod in the direction of the body on the table.   Gail understands Holly’s signal for her to do what she needs to do with the body quickly while Holly keeps Dr. Redmond distracted.

 

Gail approaches the body of Liam Sollors and touches his hair.  She figures that Dr. Redmond won’t find her fingerprint on the hair, plus she was at the crime scene so if he somehow finds her DNA or whatever on the body, then she can justify that.  She just wants to avoid the hassle.  Now, she needs to find a way to talk with Holly and maybe convince Holly to stay with her overnight.  That way she can sleep and be confident her death dream will be Liam’s death.  She cannot risk leaving Holly alone and have her die of car accident or something and she risks getting death dream of that.   Gail never want to experience an unexpected death dream ever again.  She already learned that lesson long time ago.  

 

Gail walks out of the lab and leans back against the wall in the hall to wait for Holly.

 

Fortunately, Holly comes out not too long after, and Gail gently grabs her arm.

 

“Holly, we need to talk and I am taking you to my place.  You are not going anywhere else tonight.”


	10. Chapter X: Anamnesis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? I posted a chapter earlier than expected?! :) 
> 
> This chapter is a flashback chapter and I plan to post second flashback chapter after this one, so you will get a better understanding of the characters and why they are the way they are and you get some answers too.

A battered Jeep cruises down Church street as the Stewart sisters head for their parent’s house on an unusually warm Sunday night.  Both have a hand flying out the rolled down windows and swaying along to the beat of “Stupid Girl” playing from the tape player.  Holly still couldn’t believe she saw the godly Shirley Manson singing in front of her and even caught a guitar pick from the Scottish singer.  She looks down at the pink pick in her hand.

 

“Still geeking over the pick, Hol?”

 

Holly looks over at Delma, who has a smirk on her face, and blushes.  “Well, you gotta admit it’s amazing! How many people can say they caught one from Shirley Manson? Or any famous musician?”

 

“Are you sure it’s just because she’s famous?”

 

Holly looks away to hide her facial expression.  “What do you mean? It’s not like I have a crush on her.  I just admire her like you do.”

 

Delma risks a glance at Holly before returning her attention to the road.  “Well, whatever you feel is valid.  If you are attracted to girls, that’s great.  If not, that’s great too.”

 

Holly takes a moment to digest Delma’s words.  As if it is her fate, the next Garbage song to start playing is “Queer”.  

 

“So, it’s not a big deal if I happen to prefer girls?”

 

“No.  Not a big deal at all.  I’ll still give whoever you decide to date my big sister talk, regardless of their body parts or gender identity.”

 

Holly slaps Delma’s arm and exclaims, “Del, please leave that to Dad.  At least I expect him to embarrass me, not you!”

 

Delma smirks again.  “I don’t care.  I’m your big sister. It’s my job to protect you no matter what.  Plus you don’t have to worry about an awkward sex talk with Dad.  I had to go through that and believe me you really don’t want to experience that.”

 

Holly rolls her eyes.  “Whatever.  Do you think Dad’s gonna be mad we’re late? We were supposed to be home almost an hour ago.”

 

Delma shrugs.  “I’m not worried.  Let them yell at me.  We are done with school and it’s about time we do something fun together.”

 

“Speaking of school.  How’d you like the pre-law program? Bet your gift makes it way easier.”

 

“Sometimes, but I try not to use it.  I gotta be good like Dad.  I’m gonna take over the firm when he’s ready to retire.  That’s not for like thirty years or whatever, so plenty of time for me to hone my skills.”

 

Holly starts to adjusting her glasses out of frustration.  “I wish I could tell if my gift’s been developed yet or not.  I got my period a year ago, so I should have one by now right?”

 

“It’s possible you do and you just haven’t figured out what it is yet.”

 

“Why can’t mine be like yours? You figured it out not even a month after your first period…”

 

“Well, not exactly hard to figure out when I tried to lie to our parents and it actually worked.”

 

“I wanna know now.”

 

Delma chuckles.  “Be careful what you wish for, Hol.  It might not be all that jazz like you seem to think it is.”

“I hope it’s something medical so I can become a great doctor.”

 

“That’s pretty ambitious, but you got the brains and work ethic for it. Even if your gift has nothing to do with it, you can still pursue the medical field.”

 

“I’m not that ambitious.  I don’t think being a doctor is a bigger aim than Dad’s dream of reviving our once great clan.”  Holly responses with a little bitterness.

 

Delma looks at Holly sharply.  “Hey! Don’t belittle Dad’s dream.  He wants us to not be alone anymore and be well protected.  The world is very cruel, Hol.  We need to do whatever we can to survive together.”

 

Holly knows Delma is right and their father established the law firm with a powerful man who is part of the great Riordian clan.  Supposedly he will help their father gain connections and revive the glory days of the Abaroa clan.  She can still remember the bedtime stories their mother would tell about the great things people of Abaroa did before they got obliterated during World War II by the Gotts, the true mastermind behind the Third Reich.  Now, they and their parents are what’s left of the Abaroans.

 

“Sorry, Del.  I just want to live a normal life like everyone else around us.”

 

“We are not normal, Hol.  We are meant to live in the shadows.”

 

* * *

  
  


None of the lights are lit in the Stewart’s home and Holly is stalling a little bit on the pathway while Delma gathers her things to stay overnight.  Holly assumes their parents are in bed already and is little surprised.  Usually their father would be sitting in the living room and reading his cases while waiting for Holly to get home safely.  Maybe he trusts Delma to get her home and she is sleeping over tonight as well.  

 

“Scared to face Dad?”

 

Holly jumps a little and turns around to face Delma.  “Jeez, sneaky much? The lights are off so they probably are sleeping.”

 

Delma looks at all of the windows.  “Hmm. That’s odd.  Maybe we are lucky tonight.  Let’s go and get in quietly.”

 

The sisters approach the wooden front door and Holly feels a shiver of cold up her back as she notices the door is not entirely closed.  She looks at Delma to confirm the strangeness.  Maybe their father is indeed waiting and ready to give them lecture.  Delma walks around Holly to push the door open wide and steps in the house.

 

Delma cautiously calls, “Dad?”

 

Holly follows Delma as they search for their father.  The reading room to their left where their father usually sits and reads his cases is empty and quiet.  Holly is trying to ignore the feeling of uneasiness in her stomach.  She keeps telling herself that nobody is awake, so they should head for their rooms and face their parents in morning.  

 

“Del, let’s go to bed.  They’re probably sleeping.”

 

“Okay, I’m thirsty, so I’m going to grab a glass of water and bring it with me.”

 

“I’ll get myself one too.”  

 

Since Holly is closer to the kitchen, she leads the way with Delma following behind.  They know the layout by instinct as they practically lived their entire lives in this house.  Holly walks through the hallway to the kitchen and stops as she notices a strange huge pile of… maybe clothes on the floor between the refrigerator and the kitchen counter.  She reaches for the light switch to her right and gasps in horror as she realizes what the pile truly is.

 

Their father lies in fetal position on the floor and their mother slumps over their father’s body.  Both look so lifeless, but something looks odd to Holly.  There are different color auras glowing all over both of their bodies.  Holly is too overwhelmed with grief and cannot comprehend what is happening in front of her.  However, Delma’s voice snaps Holly out of her shock.

 

“D-dad?! Mmom?!”

 

Delma freezes next to Holly while Holly analyzes the odd aura glowing from the bodies.  She can see red and blue auras spread out through like veins.  She could see a yellowish white aura throughout the bodies and strong concentration in the heads with spastic flashing.  The most disturbing aura is jade, running along with the red aura and plenty of it dusting all over their skin.  Delma is about to rush over and shake their parents in hope of waking them up.  Holly grabs Delma and holds her back.  

 

“Don’t… I can see it.  Something’s wrong.  I am pretty sure we shouldn’t touch them.”

 

Delma shakes Holly’s hold off and screams,  “Why not?!”

 

“I can see weird auras all over them… I think they represent inside like red for blood, white for nerves… and I see green which definitely doesn’t belong… I think someone poisoned them…”

 

Holly stands in shock as she realizes what her gift is.  Delma looks at her in realization as well.  Both has no idea how much time passes as they stare at each other.   All of a sudden, the dark reality hits Holly in her stomach and she collapses on the floor and starts to sob.

 

“Dad… Mom… come back…” Holly whispers hoarsely.  Delma squats down and gathers Holly in her arms as she silently mourns and hardens her heart in preparation for their lonesome future without their parents.

  
  
  


* * *

The morning sun shines through the window and birds can be heard singing their tunes.  Holly feels irritated with the world as she pushes around cereal in a milk filled plastic bowl.  She is sitting on a grey metal fold over chair Delma stole from their deceased father’s law firm.  Not really their father’s anymore.  It belongs to his partner, Mr. Ward now, and Delma used her gift to convince him to let her work there.  Delma claims it’s the best way she could support Holly while they both attend school, but Holly knows it’s much more than that. It’s been six months since their parents’ death, and the police are unable to find any lead on who’s responsible.  Things have gotten really difficult for both of them as they try to survive on their own.  Delma is fortunate to be able to drive the social workers from CPS away by using her gift to create doubt in their minds that she is unfit to take care of Holly.  Holly decides to stay with Delma, because she doesn’t want to be alone and lost in the foster care system.   She is afraid she will never see her sister again, and she cannot go through that.  Not after losing their parents.  

 

The apartment they live in is strictly for college students and it is paid for by Delma’s full ride scholarship, but Delma still needs to work at the firm so she can pay for food and necessities for Holly.  Holly decides right from the start to be the perfect student and get a full ride by herself, so she doesn’t need to put any more burden on Delma than she already does.  

 

“Holly, are you done yet? We gotta get going in five minutes. Get your stuff ready.”

 

Holly decides to get up and tosses the bowl in the sink.  She’s not really hungry at the moment and the sight of food is making her feel nauseous.  

 

“Del, I’m old enough to go to school on my own. Just go and I’ll be fine.”

 

Delma walks over to Holly and lets out a frustrated sigh.  “We argue about this every morning.  Just stop.  I’m taking you to school.  No discussion.”

 

Holly snaps,  “You’re not my mom!”

 

Delma looks taken a back for a moment before answering,  “Yeah, I’m not your mom, but I’m protecting you.  You’re the only family I have, so shut the hell up and let’s go.”

 

Holly winces but obeys because she knows she is out of line here.  Delma is right and she knows Delma feels better when she knows Holly is safe in school.  The tension still runs high between them as they adjust to new life and changes in their relationship.  

 

* * *

  
  


Bunch of papers flutters all over the floor and Delma groans at herself for being so clumsy.  She’s been in the office since four o’clock in the afternoon and she suspects it is around eleven o’clock at night.  She’s probably alone in the building, and everyone else is home for the weekend.  She squats down to gather the papers and puts them back in a folder.  Her cellphone rings in her back pocket, so she pulls it out and answers.

 

“This is Delma Stewart.”

 

“When are you coming home?”

 

“Holly? What time is it?”

 

“It’s almost eleven… you okay?”

 

Delma rubs her eyes.  “Yeah I’m fine.  Just need to drop off some papers at the boss’ office then I’m coming home.”

 

“Be careful please.  I’ll be on the loveseat, so wake me up when you come in.”

 

“Just go to bed. I’ll wake you when I join you.”

 

“I’m studying, so I probably will fall asleep here anyway.”

 

“Okay, see you soon.”

 

Delma hangs up and lets out a sigh.  She needs to find some extra money somehow and get Holly her own bed.  Sharing the full sized bed with Holly is getting old really fast and she knows their relationship is getting strained as they are in each other’s space too much.  She gets up and picks up the folder then head for Mr. Ward’s office.  

 

Mr. Ward’s office is on the top floor and the lights are still on.  Delma cautiously approach the door and notices it is not closed all the way.  She sneaks slowly without making any noise and leans against the wall next to the door and listen to Mr. Ward talking to someone on the phone.

 

“Things are going well now.  Finally, I have control of this place and our plans can proceed to next stage… Yes,  don’t worry, I took care of Kian Stewart and his nosy wife… it won’t come back to us, because I used that guy you told me about… yeah that guy…”

 

Delma covers her mouth to keeps her gasp from coming out.  Her blood runs cold as Mr. Ward’s laugh rings in her head.  

 

“The girls?  They have no idea, my friend.  The elder daughter begged me for a job.  They probably look at me like a savior.  I’m just being a good friend of Kian and taking care of his kids, right?”

 

Mr. Ward laughs again and the sound lit a fire in Delma’s stomach as she takes steps backward and away from the office.  She drops the folder on Mr. Ward’s secretary’s desk and runs as soon as she feels it is safe to do so.  Now, she feels it’s even more important to do everything possible to take back what is supposed to belongs to her.  

 


	11. Chapter XI: Anathema

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes i'm finally back with a new chapter. We will explore Gail's past.
> 
> WARNING: death mention, abuse mention, transphobia mention....that's all I can think of.

Flurries of snow get blown around hundreds of teenagers in emerald green uniforms scattering out of an old brick school building.  Fifteen year old Gail with black dyed hair leisurely wanders in the opposite direction from rest of the students heading to the parking lot to catch their ride, and sneaks past the side gateway mostly used by the faculty.  A bus stop is stationed a block away and she hurriedly catches the bus and climbs on before it departs for next stop several blocks away.  She heads for the last seat in the back and puts on headphones to give other passengers a strong signal not to disturb her.   The walkman is hidden in a pocket of Gail’s sweatshirt and she presses play.  Her head slowly begins to sway along with the beat of Corin Tucker’s voice, Carrie Brownstein’s riffing, and Janet Weiss’ drumming.  
  
Bunch of stores and row houses flies past and the burden of familial expectations floats away from Gail’s mind.  Earlier this morning, her mother nagged on her about going through a daily checklist to see if she can figure out what her ability is.  It’s been over two years since her puberty began, and she still has no idea what her power is.  Steve already figured out his not long after his balls dropped.  Admittedly, his mental ability to extract emotion based memories out of people’s head by touching their neck is not that hard to discover.  He has Gail to thanks for “helping” him figure it out.  She still refuses to forgive him for using her like that.    
  
  
Being labeled the family embarrassment is bad enough and now she is confused about her own sexuality.  Most teenagers in her school are straight, and she knows there is a LGBT club, but she is not into student clubs.  She hates being around other students, because they all see her purely by her family’s name.  Pecks is a noble family and part of the prestigious Riordian clan.  Only the Riordian kids would approach her and that’s only if they are expecting something from her.  Other students would avoid her at all costs out of fear of insulting her, and the Riordians by affiliation.  That makes it difficult for Gail to even contemplate dating or just experimenting with someone.  She trusts nobody in the school, and she maintains her reputation purely just to avoid her mother’s wrath.  Elaine Peck would not condone any negativity or oddness being attached to her family.    
  
“Grace Street.  Next stop is Euclid Ave.”  
  
That’s her stop. Gail gets up quickly, climbs off the bus, and hurriedly jogs a block to a hole in the wall bar squeezed between an Italian restaurant and a small convenience mart.  There’s a worn out sign barely hanging off a bracket above the door.  
  
Collins’ Bar and Motel  
  
Gail presses a doorbell by the door with a taped index card written in black marker: ‘Don’t press the doorbell unless you want a gun pointing at your face.’  
  
The not polished wooden door slowly opens and a gun pokes out through the crack.  Gail rolls her eyes and glares past the gun barrel.  
  
“Really? You gonna point that at me?” asks Gail.  
  
The door open wider and a brown buzz cut head pops out.  
  
“Oh hey Gail, sorry about that. Just being careful.” Nick says as he allows Gail to walk through.  
  
The bar is bare with a long wooden counter by the wall with taps and glasses.  Few of the wall shelves have liquor bottles that are mostly empty and the brands are of low quality.  The room has a table and chairs here and there in the middle and a worn dartboard hanging off a wall opposite of the counter.  Nick’s parents bought the place before he was born and his brother, Finn, took over after their parents died in a car accident.  Unfortunately, Finn is not doing a great job with the place and they are barely surviving on little profits they have leftover after Finn’s “fixes”.    
  
Nick and Gail walk wordlessly to the door next to kitchen on the other side.  Nick opens the door and gives a hand gesture to tell Gail to go upstairs first.  Before they arrive on the second floor, Nick grabs Gail’s arm.  
  
“Gail, Alejan- I mean Alex is here.  He’s in my room playing Resident Evil…”  
  
Gail sighs and corrects Nick.  “They. Nick.  Alex want us to use they.”  
  
Nick shakes his head.  “Right.  Their face is bruised.  I think their dad did that to them. I just want you to know so you don’t get too surprised.”  
  
“We got to do something.  This isn’t right.”  
  
“What can we do? Alex told us not to do anything.  They doesn’t want the school or police to find out about their parents being illegal here.”  
  
Gail is not willing to give up.  “We still should do something.”    
  
Nick nods.  “We will figure it out.  For now, let’s keep them company.”  
  
As they resume climbing up the stairs to the second floor where Nick and Finn live on plus the motel rooms, Gail contemplates Alex’s situation.  When she first met Alex, their original name was Alejandro and they was raised as a boy.  Their family is strongly Catholic and came from Mexico.  Their father strongly believes in machismo culture and often beat Alex because of their physical appearance or behavior.  Alex always liked to have longer hair and makes great effort taking care of it.  One of their favorite hobbies is dancing, and not the kind their father would approve.  Last year, Alex found a website on a school computer talking about transgender and nonbinary identities and they really feel that they is non binary.  Not long after that, they came out to Gail first and Gail helped them come out to Nick last week.  They have not really come out to their family yet, but their father seems to suspect them changing and not liking it a bit.  
  
Nick leads Gail all the way back past the motel rooms to a small apartment where Nick and occasionally Finn, when he shows up, live.  The apartment was a large storage room converted to a living space with kitchenette in a corner and two twin beds in opposite corner.  Alex is sitting on a stained tan couch and playing on a Playstation hooked up to a 14 inch television on a coffee table against the wall next to the beds.  Gail slumps next to Alex and watch them trying to accomplish a mission in the game.  
  
Gail asks, “Hey, weren’t we supposed to play that save together?”  
  
Alex shrugs.  “I got bored of waiting for you to show up, so I went ahead.  It’s not like it’s our first time beating this game anyway.”  
  
“True.”  
  
Gail knows Alex is using the game to escape from whatever happened at home.  The bruise near their left eye makes it clear.    
  
Nick grabs some Sunny D’s and three plastic cups before settling on the floor next to Alex.  He pours in the cups and silently pass each to Alex and Gai, then sips slowly while staring into nothing.  The air remains calm as none of them say anything and Alex continues to shooting at zombies on the television.  This is why Gail really enjoys hanging out with Alex and Nick.  She can just be herself and they are not aware of her burden to her family.  No Feyian politics.  No Peck expectations.  She doesn’t have to worry about figuring out what is her so called inner blessing as her mother likes to call it.  She likes just being as normal as she could be in this world.  Feyians may be powerful but they must be invisible within the human societies.    
  
  
“Goddamnit!”  
  
The controller flies over and falls down just right by the television.  
Gail looks over at Alex, “Hey! Watch where you throw that. I’m not going to replace that for the third time.”  
  
“Fucking Licker pissed me off.”  
  
Alex brushes away the hair out of their face and takes a big gulp of Sunny D before slamming the cup back down on the coffee table.  Nick refills Alex’s cup without a word.  
  
Gail gets up and grabs the controller, “My turn now! Watch me blow that whip like tongue out of the eyeless asshole.”  
  


* * *

  
  
“…And that’s how you beat Tyrant and get the best ending.”  
  
Gail pretends to shoot with the controller and put on a smug face as her friends chuckle with not even an ounce of surprise.  
  
Alex shrugs, “Of course you kick ass, Gail.  You always do.”  
  
“Maybe you should become a cop like Jill Valentine?” Nick teases.  
  
Gail’s face turns sour and scowls, “No way.  I will never become a cop.”  
  
She really doesn’t want to follow in her family’s path and become one of countless pawns for her mother to control in her political games.  She is not going to follow her brother’s path.  Steve may be satisfied with his golden boy image and riding on their family’s fame, but Gail refuses to submit.  Not as if she’s being useful to the Pecks at this point anyway since she has no clue what will be her talent.  Maybe being a pro at video games is her talent.  Gail giggles as she thinks about what would be her mother’s reaction.    
  
“What’s funny?”  
Gail looks at Alex and mutters, “Nothing.  Just thinking about how I easily destroyed the Licker you hated so much.”  
  
Alex scoffs, “Yeah yeah.  I don’t think you will be a cop.  More like a professional gamer.  I read in a magazine some pro gamers make thousands in tournaments.”    
  
Gail nods, “Yep, that’s what I’m gonna do.”  
  
“I’ll be running this joint and cheering for you while serving booze to drunkards,” Nick says.    
  
Alex remains quiet, so Gail asks, “What about you, Alex?”  
  
Alex has a far away look on and mutters, “I’m not sure.  I just want to explore myself and be free to just be me.  I don’t really care what I do for living.”    
  
Nick looks like he gets an opportunity to jump in and mentions, “Well, why don’t you work here?  Maybe even move in one of the rooms?”  
  
Alex looks shocked, “You serious?”  
  
Nick nods, “Yeah.  I need help with running this place.  As you both probably noticed, Finn is not really around much lately and those assholes have been giving me shit about money he stole from them.”  
  
“Well, I don’t need pity though, so no thanks.”  
  
“It’s not pity.  I just need somebody to be behind the bar, so I can take care of there stuff.  Plus, I’ve been sorta thinking about open some of the rooms for rent for the other kids who live in the alleys around Church Street… They won’t trust me, but they will trust you, Alex.”  
  
“Because I’m one of them?”  
  
Nick nods, “Yeah.  At least the empty rooms would be used… not as if those rooms are making me any money anyway.”  
  
Gail stares at Nick and notices faint blush on his cheeks.  Now, she understands why he’s offering Alex a place and kind of a job too.  Yes, he is being a good friend, but there’s definitely something brewing in the air between Alex and him.    
  
“Hmm…. Fine, but you better change the bar’s name.  Collins sounds totally Irish and the only Irish thing about this place is the amount of whiskey bottles on the shelf.”  
  
Nick chuckles and asks, “Fine so what should it be called?”  
  
Gail giggles and offers a solution.  “Alex’s.”  
  
Alex drums the coffee table while Nick groans.  
  
“Fine, but after I die.  For now it stays as Collins.”  
  
Alex complains, “But that will be in like fifty years. I’ll be just an old broad.”  
  
And not single, Gail thinks to herself.  
  


* * *

  
  
Gail walks out of the front door and turns around to face Nick.  Nick leans against the door and sighs.  
  
“I really hope Alex will actually accept my offer.”  
  
“They will.  I have no doubt.”  
  
“You really think so?”  
  
Gail punches Nick’s arm and Nick flinches.    
  
“You’re an idiot, Nick. Ask them out for Pete’s sake.  Just don’t awkwardly kiss them without asking for permission.  That didn’t work out when you tried with me.”  
  
“Well,  what does that make me then?  Gay?”  
  
“It doesn’t make you anything, Nick.  You’re still the same idiot as before.  You just like someone else now. Do I really have to give you step by step instructions?”  
  
Nick smirks and shakes his head.  Gail rolls her eyes and gives Nick another punch in the arm.  
  
“You really got to quit punching my arms.  Ain’t your punching bags.”  
  
Gail walks away and shrugs in defiance.   Nick watches her walk away and is glad they remain friends even after his admittedly idiotic attempt at wooing her.  Maybe he will have a better luck with Alex this time and not worry too much about what that means for him.    
  


* * *

  
  
  
_A stream of moonlight shines through holes in the curtain and bounces off Gail’s face as she lies down on a tiny bed.  She feels annoyed by the light and turns over to the darker side.  She almost falls deeper in Neverland, but noises from downstairs somewhere disrupt her trip, so she opens her eyes and slowly gets up._   
  
_“Finn?” Gail hears herself whispers and looks over at the other empty bed with a sheet hanging off the edge._   
  
_Gail gets up and walks over to look around in the kitchen and living area but there is no sign of Finn’s presence. She is about to turn back to bed, but heard some thumping noises from downstairs.  A shattering noise startles Gail as she approaches the door to the bar downstairs._   
  
_“So where is it? Don’t make me go upstairs and look.”_   
  
_Gail quietly nudges the door to the bar area open and sees Finn lying against the wall  with bloody face.  A young man with slicked hair and suit is leaning against a table nearby and a large skinhead stands right in front of Finn and rubbing his hands._   
  
_“Look, I’m sorry Mr. Landers.  I just need one more week.  I can get you the money I owe you,” Finn begs._   
  
_Gail spots the gun lying on a shelf on the bartender side of the bar counter.  She crouch down and slowly crawls toward the shelf.  As soon as she reaches for the gun, a gunshots stings her ears.  She grabs the gun and stood up quickly to see the skinhead pointing the gun at Finn’s slumping head._   
  
_Gail screams, “Nooo!!!”  and shoots at the skinhead and he drops down on the floor without realizing what happened.  Mr. Landers looks shocked for a moment before taking out his own gun and points at Gail._   
  
_Both shoots at each other at the same time and Mr. Launders looks down at his chest and watches a crimson waterfall pouring out of a hole.  He looks up at Gail and strains, “You….fuck..”_   
  
_Gail freezes and thinks Mr. Launders must’ve missed, but slowly a burning sensation lit up right below her chest area.  She looks down and spots blood spreading along the white tank she is currently wearing.  She sharply inhales air and collapses on the floor. This must be one of the most painful feeling she ever experiences.  She wants to stay on the floor and not move, but her body has another idea.  She begins to crawls around the counter with a trail of blood behind her._   
  
_After what feels like eternity, Gail finally reaches Finn, and tries to get in sitting position, but ends up leaning against Finn and picks up his hand.  She looks at a mirror across the room and sees Nick next to Finn instead of her.  Coldness begins to trickles from the gunshot wound to her limbs.  Her breathing becomes shallow and her eyes shut as blue and red flashing lights come through the windows in the bar room…_

 

  
Ice blue eyes pop open as Gail rises up and crawls back against the headboard, knocking her head hard as she tries to take a proper breath.  Her hands tremble because she cannot feel any warmth.    
  
Steven barges in the room, sits next to Gail but not touching her. He knows she will never trust him not to take advantage of his ability and he regrets his action.    
  
“Gail? What’s wrong?”  
  
Gail presses her chest with her hands hard.  “My chest hurts so much…”  
  
She starts to gag and Steven quickly brings a trashcan from next to the nightstand and luckily has it in front for Gail to puke in time. After a few minutes of dry heaving, Gail finally calm down enough to breathe properly.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
“Just a really awful dream.  It felt so real, Steve…”  
  
Gail looks down at her hands and stretch her fingers in and out.  “My hands still feel so cold.”  
  
“Cold? You probably had your hands lying outside of the blanket.  It’s bit chilly tonight.”  
  
Gail shakes her head.  “No, I died in my dream and I practically felt the warmth leaving my body.  It was so weird.”  
  
Steve sighs, “Don’t worry. Just a dream.  Probably from playing too much Resident Evil huh?”  
  
Gail scoffs, “I’m not a kid anymore.  Zombies don’t scare me.”  
  
Steve laughs and Gail sneaks in a smirk.  She begins to feel a little better since it is just a dream.  Steve gets up and picks up the trashcan to put somewhere else so it doesn’t stink up the room.  Before he gets a chance to leave the room,  the phone on Gail’s nightstand rings.  Gail gets startled a little and picks up the phone.  
  
“Who’s this? It’s  middle of the night. What’s the hell?”  
  
All Gail could hear is teary muffling and gasping.  Something becomes heavy and tight in Gail’s stomach.  Something is seriously wrong and she starts to have a bad feeling she knows why.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Hey… this is Alex..”  
  
“What’s wrong Alex? Do you need me to come and get you from your home?”  
  
“No, I’m not home.. I’m at Collins.”  
  
Gail could hear sirens in the background.    
  
“It’s… God… I found them… lying there with blood everywhere..”  
  
Gail’s heart beats rapidly and her room expands, making her dizzy.     
  
Alex sniffs, “Nick’s dead… Finn’s dead… and there’s two dudes dead too.  I’m not sure what happened but look like they killed each other.”  
Gail has to ask, “Fuck… are.. Were Nick and Finn holding hands?”  
  
“Yes… how the hell did you know?”  
  
Gail squeezes her eyes and begins to rock back and forth.  She feels Steve’s arm around her shoulders.    
  
“I..uh.. Just had to ask cuz you know… brothers..”  
  
Fucking lame excuse, Gail thinks to herself.    
  
“I gotta go… the cop wants to talk to me. I”m not supposed to be on phone but I had to tell you… Please can I see you tomorrow?”  
  
“Of course, go and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”  
  
Gail hangs up and puts her head in her hands.  Steve rubs her in the back and that soothes Gail a little before she realizes what that means.  She gets up quickly and shouts, “Don’t touch me!”  
  
Steve raises his hands,  “Whoa.  Calm down.”  
  
“No. No.  I’m not going to calm down.  I saw my friend died in my dream. What the hell is that?  Is it my fault?”  
  
“I heard.  Who are they? Nick and Finn?”  
  
Gail leans against her dresser.  “Nick was my friend… we met couple years ago in a game store with Alex, who was on the phone.”  
  
“Why haven’t I heard of them till now?”  
  
Gail shrugs, “Because I liked how normal I felt when I’m around them.”  
  
“So, they’re not like us?”  
  
Gail nods,  “And Finn is Nick’s older brother.  He was a douchebag.  Always on something and grabbing whatever money they have to support his habit. God, that fucking bastard.”  
  
“And you saw in your dream… how they die?”  
  
“Yes… more like I was being Nick?”  
  
Steve’s eyes widens a little,  “Sounds a lot like Gramma Sullivan… remember how Mom used to tell us all about how amazing she was and how her ability practically helped our people rise to where we are now?”  
  
“Shit… that means I’m fucked.”  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Waves of symphonic music pour through the ballroom full of Feyians all dressed up in tuxedos and colorful gowns.  They are all divided up in smaller groups and taking the rare opportunity to network and creating their own alliances within the clan.  This is the first formal gathering hosted by the Pecks in ten years.    
  
Gail is hiding herself in a corner far away from everyone and sneaks in a drink she steals from the bar.  She feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around to see her mother standing in front of her with a stern face.    
  
“What are you doing hiding over here.  You need to be up on the stage with me in ten minutes.  Come on.”  
  
Gail groans and asks, “Our deal is still on right?  I’ll be your ‘dutiful’ daughter and you will make sure the bar goes to Alex right?”     
  
“Of course, that’s a very simple task.  It will be done tomorrow.  Just remember to uphold your side and we will be absolutely fine.”  
  
Gail nods and follows her mother to the stage.  Somehow this feels like she just signs her soul to the devil.    
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
